Not As Dumb As You Think
by Coveritupsmiling
Summary: <html><head></head>Brittany may be smarter than what everyone gives her credit for. When she spots a problem with Rachel, can she help her out? Will this newfound friendship turn into a romance? M for abuse, self harm, rape, and smut in later chapters! Brittberry</html>
1. Different

**Not As Dumb As You Think**

**Chapter 1: Different**

**A/N: **Here's my first story. Sorry if it's bad, it is my first time, so review and let me know if I should continue: D

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, and smut for later chapters

**Summary: **Brittany may be smarter than what everyone gives her credit for. When she spots a problem with Rachel, can she help her out? Will this newfound friendship turn into a romance? M for abuse and smut in later chapters, you have been warned! BrittBerry.

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><p>Brittany may not be smart at school, but she was smart with people. She knew Santana was completely shattered after she rejected her in the hallway, she knew Quinn was a huge pressed lemon, she knew Puck was a man whore, she knew Finn was dumber than she was, she knew Artie was only using her to get back with Tina, and Tina was using Mike to get back with Artie, she knew Mr. Schue was desperately trying to get over his feelings for Ms. Pillsbury, even though it's blatantly obvious she loves him back, but most of all she knew that Rachel never, under any circumstances, EVER wore anything but short skirts, argyle, and a huge smile. Which is exactly why she was thrown into a deep sea of confusion when Rachel walked through the choir room doors in jeans, a hoodie, and a forced smile, shortly followed by an angry looking Finn. The diva sat in her normal front row seat, as Finn plopped into the chair next to her. Finn sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, and turned to Rachel apologetically. He gently placed a hand on her arm, and she immediately flinched away from his touch, her smile faltering. The tall boy's features softened even more and he bowed his head. He leaned over and softly whispered into Rachel's ear, but no matter how much she strained, Brittany couldn't make out what he was saying. After Finn pulled away, Rachel's forced smile immediately returned and she turned to face him.<p>

"I forgive you," she whispered softly, placing a soft hand on his shoulders. Finn smiled broadly and turned back to the front of the room in excitement. What he didn't see was Rachel's smile immediately drop, before sighing deeply and facing forwards again. Brittany furrowed her brow in confusion and stared intently at Rachel. She could've sworn she saw deep purple littering her wrists, after the brunette accidentally let her sleeve dip for a moment. She turned her gaze to Finn who was talking animatedly with Sam and Puck, and then back to Rachel who was sitting in her seat, scribbling in her notebook. The blonde almost jumped to the ceiling when she felt a soft pair of hands on her back.

"Britt, why are you staring at Stubbles like that? It's kinda creepy," Santana questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not," Brittany mumbled, shifting her gaze to the Latina, "but have you noticed anything… different, with Rachel?"

"Psht, and go blind staring at her hideous face? I don't think so, but her fashion has improved tremendously, since when do you start caring about RuPaul anyways?"

"I don't," she quickly reassured her, "just something I noticed."

"Well start noticing something else, will you? Just talking about the dwarf is making me sick." Brittany nodded and redirected her attention to the front of the room just as Mr. Schue walked in.

"Okay everybody, so this week's assignment's on… pain. But this week, I want everybody to do a solo, so no partners, and… yes Rachel?" Mr. Schue was cut off mid sentence as Rachel's hand shot into the air.

"Mr. Schue. I understand the importance of weekly assignments, but I believe that since nationals is right around the corner, we should broaden our song selection, and maybe do something a little more…" Brittany tuned out the rest of Rachel's rambling as Santana tapped her on the shoulder.

"See? Manhands is perfectly fine, so stop worrying about nothing." Santana crossed her arms and rolled her eyes before inspecting her nails. Brittany turned back to Rachel and eyed her curiously. Something was still off about the diva. Her words didn't seem as big, and she didn't seem as… enthusiastic, as usual. She sighed, and looked down at her lap, but her head snapped back up as Mr. Schue smacked his hand down on the table.

"Enough, Rachel! I'm tired of you constantly trying to take control of Glee. I'm the teacher and what I say goes, just do the assignment without questioning it for once!" Rachel bowed her head and looked down at her hands, while Mr. Schue moved on, to explain the aspects of 'pain', and other boring teacher stuff. Thirty more minutes dragged by of hearing Mr. Schue's boring rant about nationals, and pain, and anything else you can think of, and by the time the bell rang, Brittany was ready to go. She bounded out the door, and was just in time to witness one of the infamous slushy facials. Just as she stepped out the door, she watched Karofsky strut up to Rachel and nonchalantly throwing a blueberry slushy in her face. Rachel stood in shock for a moment, before hastily pulling the hood over her face and dashing to the nearest bathroom, trying to escape the cheering and laughing crowd that followed her. Brittany frowned, Rachel seemed to be really off lately and she wanted to know what was up. She took a step towards the direction Rachel went, but she stopped as a hand on her shoulder restrained her.

"Britt, where are you going? The doors this way," Santana asked, motioning to the school's exit.

"I just need to use the bathroom really fast, I'll see you tomorrow," Brittany replied quickly before breaking from Santana's grip and walking quickly to where Rachel had disappeared to. She walked down the halls before coming to the bathrooms. She paused a moment before slowly pushing the doors open and walking in. Rachel was bent over the sinking, washing her face. The blue slushy was washing down the drain, but there was something else coming off her face too, and it was the same color as her skin… "Rachel?" Brittany asked quietly, taking a step closer to the brunette. Rachel froze; she turned the water off, and turned to Brittany, her hair acting like a curtain, shielding her face.

"Hello Brittany, I didn't expect anyone else to be here, you startled me," Rachel bent down to pick her bag up and Brittany could faintly make out a dark ring circling her left eye. "It was great talking to you but I really must go, it's a long walk to my house." Rachel began walking briskly to the door, but Brittany caught her around the shoulders and turned to face the brunette. She gently brushed the hair out of Rachel's face, and gasped at the huge purple ring she found around her eye. Rachel tried to turn her head away, desperate to hide her bruise from Brittany, but the blonde turned her head back towards her and ghosted her fingers over her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked, gently touching the huge bruise, but pulling away as Rachel flinched.

"I fell and hit my eye against a doorknob," she mumbled quickly, "I really am very clumsy, listen, I really need to get home before I get in trouble for being late." She tried to remove herself from the tall blondes grasped, but Brittany just pulled her back into place.

"I'll give you a ride, it's getting dark." Brittany offered, she noticed that the brunette was beginning to get nervous and panicky.

"No, its fine, I can just walk." Rachel replied, her eyes flickering to the door.

"No it'll be fun, come on." Brittany grabbed Rachel's hand and dragged her out the door, and out of the school.

"Brittany, this is totally unnecessary, I'm perfectly capable of walking home."

"Pretty please? Your house is on the way to mine anyways, it'll be nice to have someone to talk to on the drive home." Brittany may have told a little lie there, her house may be on the complete opposite side of Lima, but that part didn't really matter. She wanted to know what was bothering the diva. Rachel sighed and reluctantly got into the passenger's seat.

"Fine, but only because it's getting dark," Brittany nodded enthusiastically and slipped into the drivers seat, before starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

"Can I ask you a question?" Brittany asked, after a few minutes of silence.

"Well, considering you just did, another wouldn't hurt," Rachel replied, staring out the window.

"Why are you dressing different?" Brittany asked, glancing at Rachel out of the side of her eyes. Rachel looked down at her lap and began playing with the bottom of her hoodie.

"Well… you see… I…" Rachel stuttered, she was desperately trying to think of something to say, she obviously couldn't tell Brittany the truth. She couldn't use the excuse that it was getting colder, it was in the high seventy's today, she couldn't say she ran out of skirts and sweaters, she had enough of those to dress a small island. "I, uhm, I just felt like it." She swallowed thickly and eyed Brittany, hoping she would buy her lame excuse. Brittany nodded slowly before pulling up to Rachel's driveway. Rachel got out of the car and grabbed her backpack. "Well, thanks for the ride, I'll see you tomorrow." Rachel shut the car door and walked slowly up to her front door as Brittany pulled away. The blonde knew that there was definitely something wrong with Rachel, and she was going to find out what it was.

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><p>There you go. Sorry if it's kind of short, review and tell me if I should continue, or if it's a piece of shit and I should just stop there. Thanks :)<p> 


	2. The Secret

**Not As Dumb As You Think**

**Chapter 2: The Secret**

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews guys; I decided to make this a story :) So here's chapter two, hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, and smut for later chapters

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><p>The next morning, Brittany was walking down the halls of McKinley to get to her locker, and then to Spanish, or History, or whatever class she had first. But before she could reach her locker a small body rammed forcefully into hers, and because she was so much taller, knocking the other girl to the ground. Brittany's eyes widened and she knelt down next to her, gently grabbing her by the elbow and helping her up.<p>

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see… Rachel?" her eyes widened as she saw the familiar face of the brunette. Rachel had her hands covering her mouth and… was that blood dripping down her chin? "Oh my God, did I do that?" Brittany asked in a high pitched voice. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you." Rachel shook her head and looked down at the ground.

"It wasn't you, I… someone… someone opened a door and it hit me in the mouth," Rachel explained quickly, her voice muffled by her hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get cleaned up," she mumbled before sprinting to the nearest bathroom. Brittany furrowed her brow, she hadn't remembered the brunette ever being so clumsy, and she's actually never seen her hurt herself at all before. First the eye, now the mouth… Brittany quickly shook her head clear of these thoughts before resuming her way to her locker, but as soon as she turned around, she saw Finn staring at Rachel's retreating form angrily, before turning around, punching the air, and retreating into an empty classroom. Brittany stared at the classroom door in confusion, before shifting her gaze back to Rachel, who just entered the bathroom. She sighed before turning around and heading to the bathroom. She entered quietly, and found Rachel leaning over the sink and inspecting her heavily bleeding lip in the mirror. She walked to Rachel's side and gently placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder. She was taken in complete and utter surprise when Rachel jumped about three feet in the air, ran to the nearest wall and backed into it, covering her face with her hands. Brittany stared at her in shock, her hand still hanging in the air where Rachel's shoulder had been.

"Rachel?" she asked quietly, not moving an inch. The brunette slowly opened her eyes and saw Brittany staring at her in astonishment. Her eyes went wide and she dropped her hands to cover her mouth.

"H-hi Brittany," she stuttered, stepping away from the wall in embarrassment.

"What was the heck that?" The blonde asked, taking a step closer to Rachel.

"N-nothing, I, uh, I just thought you were… going to slushy me or something." Rachel replied, looking down to the ground, "Why are you here?" Brittany took a few steps closer to Rachel and looked at her skeptically.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay, you were bleeding," Brittany stated simply. She lifted her hands and grabbed Rachel's wrist, gently tugging on it to loosen her grip over her mouth. "Move your hands, let me see."

"What? Why?" Rachel asked nervously, tensing her arms, and not moving an inch.

"Whenever Santana was punched in the face or got in a fight, I would fix it and make it all better, now let me see." Rachel sighed, and reluctantly moved her arms. Brittany bent down and squinted her eyes. Rachel's bottom lip was totally busted and bleeding profusely. "And you said that you were hit in the face, by a door?" Brittany questioned, to her this looked like a lot more damage than just getting hit with a door. Rachel nodded, beginning to fidget a little. Brittany turned to the sink and wet a paper towel, before turning back to Rachel and gently wiping the blood away. Rachel tried to flinch away, but Brittany firmly placed a hand on the back of her head. "Don't move," she mumbled, focusing intently on cleaning up Rachel's mouth. Rachel stood still, but whimpered quietly as Brittany ran over a particularly sore spot. "Sorry," Brittany whispered apologetically, "I just can't get it to stop bleeding." After ten more minutes in the bathroom, the two girls had managed to stem the blood flow, and cover up the damage so that it was barely visible. Brittany smiled brightly before pulling away and throwing out the used tissues. "There," she exclaimed cheerfully, "All done!"

"Thanks," Rachel quickly threw on a strained smile before picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. The brunette glanced down at her watch, and sighed. "Sorry for making you late to class." She mumbled quietly, "We'd better get going."

"Wait," Brittany stopped her just as she was about to leave and turned the brunette to face her. She eyed her suspiciously and frowned in concern. "Rachel, are you okay?" Rachel stared at her in surprise, and something that looked like a glimmer of hope flashed through her eyes, but just as quick as it arrived, it was gone, and the brunette forced another smile.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine," she whispered unconvincingly, before turning on her heels and exiting the bathroom. Brittany stood rooted in the same spot for a couple more minutes, eyes trained on the door, before sighing and walking out of the bathroom, making her way to her first class.

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><p>The rest of Brittany's day went by normally, and by the time Glee rolled around, she was in a great mood. She bounced into the choir room and took her seat next to Santana. The rest of the club slowly piled into the room. And when Rachel and Finn entered, she noticed how she was tightly wrapping her arms around her stomach and gritting her teeth. Brittany cocked her head and shot Rachel a confused stare. When the diva noticed, she smiled and reluctantly pried her arms away from her midsection, before taking a seat next to Finn. Finn just seemed a little too steamy for Brittany's liking. Mr. Schue walked through the door and stood in front of the piano with his usual huge, cheesy grin.<p>

"Okay guys, today lets work on some choreography, everybody pick your partners," Quinn immediately jogged to Finn and asked him to be her partner, of course she would. Bitch. And then he said yes. Bastard. Rachel looked absolutely broken, she was almost positive that no one else was going to want to be her partner. Brittany had been watching the brunette intently, and saw the disappointment wash over her features. She quickly walked towards the distraught diva and tapped her on the shoulder. Rachel whipped around with the same fearful look in her eyes that she had in the bathroom. She quickly recovered and plastered on another fake smile.

"Hello Brittany," she said in a way too cheerful tone. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Want to be partners?" she asked cheerfully, "Artie can't really dance, since, you know, he's got a problem with his legs." Rachel looked at the tall blonde in confusion.

"You want to be partners? With me?" she asked in surprise.

"Of course you silly, who else would I be talking to?"

"Uhm, okay, I guess,"

"Great! Let's go," Brittany grabbed Rachel's hand and led her to the center of the floor. The group began their steps, but Brittany couldn't help but notice how Rachel's eyes were practically screaming in pain, and how she kept a hand firmly over her stomach. "Are you okay?" Brittany whispered in her ear halfway through the number, "Do you have a stomach ache or something? I can take you to the bathroom if you want." Rachel was genuinely surprised at Brittany's concern.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, trying to ignore the stabbing pain in her stomach. Brittany nodded and continued with the number. Rachel wasn't sure how much more dancing she could take. Her stomach was hurting worse than ever. She carried on with the song, but at a particularly hard move, red hot pain shot through her body and she cried out, dropping to her knees and clutching her abdomen. The music stopped and all eyes turned to her.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Brittany asked, kneeling beside the brunette. Santana sighed heavily in the background and stepped forward.

"Oh for God's sakes, seriously? It's RuPaul, what happened is she doesn't think she get's enough attention and pulls stunts like this to get peoples sympathy. Now get the fuck off the ground and let's get it back on with this number." Rachel swallowed thickly and removed her hands from her stomach before trying to stand back up, but the blinding pain forced her back down as she fell to the floor with a groan. Brittany positioned herself over the diva and gently placed a hand over her stomach. Rachel threw her head back at the pain, and bit her lip trying to keep herself from screaming.

"I don't think she's faking San," she hooked one arm under Rachel's neck and another under her legs and stood up, hoisting Rachel into her arms. "Mr. Schue, I'm taking her to the bathroom." Mr. Schue nodded and Brittany walked out of the choir room and to the nearest bathroom. "You know, it's okay to tell somebody when something's wrong," she said to Rachel, who was currently shaking in pain and holding back tears. They entered the bathroom and Brittany sat Rachel against the wall. She reached for the hem of Rachel's shirt and tried to lift it, but Rachel knocked away her hands.

"Don't," she mumbled under her breath "I'm fine."

"Did you not see what just happened in there?" Brittany asked incredulously. "You were on the floor doubled over in pain, that's not fine." She reached for the bottom of Rachel's shirt again, but Rachel brushed her off.

"I said I'm fine, just leave it," Rachel managed to stand up on wobbly legs and take a step towards the door, but she immediately fell back down into Brittany's arms. Before Rachel could react, Brittany grabbed Rachel's shirt and pulled it up, revealing ugly shades of black, blue, and yellow covering her whole stomach.

"Rachel?" she gasped, slowly pulling away from the diva and looking into her eyes, "Rachel, is he hurting you?" Brittany could see the panic in her eyes, as she weakly pulled away and made a run for the door.

"No! Just leave me alone!" she yelled before exiting the bathroom. Brittany ran after her, but when she had entered the halls, Rachel was already gone. One thing was for sure, Rachel was not telling her the truth. And she knew exactly what song she was singing for her Glee assignment.


	3. Letting It Slip

**Not As Dumb As You Think**

**Chapter 3: Letting It Slip**

**A/N: **So here's the next chapter. I'm going to do something that a lot of other stories are already doing, but I figured I'd try it anyways. So I got like 9 reviews for my first chapter and 4 for my second. Hmm… If you review I will update faster :) well, enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, and smut for later chapters, and possible rape.

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><p>Rachel ran down the halls as fast as she could. Her stomach was throbbing, and she felt like she was going to throw up at any moment, but she just needed to get out. Get out of the school, and away from Brittany. She had a million thoughts running through her head as she made the mad dash across the parking lot and to her car.<p>

_How did she know?_

_Am I really that obvious?_

_How could I be so stupid?_

_Oh God, is she going to tell anybody?_

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid._

She had finally reached her car, and she hastily dug through her bag for her keys, before thrusting her door open and throwing herself into the driver seat. She desperately held back the tears threatening to fall, and the sob forming in her throat. She buried her head into the steering wheel and tried to regain control of herself. Finn wouldn't like it if he saw her like this, but the fear of being caught, the pain in her stomach, and the sheer terror of what Finn would do to her proved to be too much to handle. Just the thought of how angry he would be sent a wave of nausea through her body. She fumbled with the handle of the door, before flinging it open and falling to the ground, heaving violently and throwing up onto the pavement. Once her stomach has emptied itself of it's entire contents, she shakily stood up, bracing herself against her car and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She climbed back into her car, and started her engine; it took all of her energy just to focus on the road enough to drive home. Once she had reached her destination, she slowly walked to the front door of her house, and stepped inside. She walked into the kitchen, and the first thing she noticed was the white note left on the counter. She picked it up and flipped it open.

_Dear Rachel,_

_Me and your daddy have decided to take an early anniversary vacation. We are currently away on a two month cruise to the Bahamas. We trust you, and now that you are old enough and responsible enough to be left home alone for a few months. We have left money in your room to pay for food, clothes, and any other necessities. _

_Love you,_

_Dad & Daddy_

A small smile ghosted over Rachel's lips as she crumpled the paper and tossed it over her shoulder. She immediately left the kitchen and headed up to her room. She tossed her bag onto her bed and entered her attached master bathroom. She stood in front of her mirror and stared at her reflection. Finn was right, she was ugly. Ugly hair, ugly nose, ugly eyes, ugly lips, everything about her was wrong. She sneered at her reflection and curled her hands into fists. She brought her hands up to eye level and inspected them. Manhands, that's all they were. That's all she was. No wonder everyone called her RuPaul, she was the ugliest, manliest, most disgusting thing to ever walk the Earth. This was why she deserved what Finn did. She was a mistake, everything from how she dresses, to how she talks, to how she looks, all a mistake. She bowed her head and slowly walked to her toilet and sat down on the closed lid, burying her face into her hands and taking, deep, slow breaths. After a couple minutes, she had managed to calm herself to a certain extent. She stood up and began to walk back into her room, but something shiny caught her eye. Something that might just be able to make everything stop. A razor. She slowly turned to the counter and picked it up, examining it closely. She ran her fingertips along the blade, feeling just how sharp it was. She took the blade in her right hand and hovered it over her forearm. It should be easy, right? She heard about it, and seen it on TV enough times. She closed her eyes and nervously brought it to her arm, slowly dragging it across her skin. As soon as she felt the light sting, her eyes shot open and she looked at her arm in amazement. Red blood slowly trickled down her arm and landed on the tile floor with a barely audible patter. Calm washed over her body and all her worries just flew out the window. One cut and she was addicted. She quickly added three more slashes before letting a small smile grace her lips. She washed the razor off, bandaged her arm, and walked out of the bathroom and into her room. She removed her hoodie and her shirt and observed her stomach. There was only a couple patches of normal colored skin, the rest was deeply bruised. The bruises began right under her neck and ran down her abdomen, spreading down her arms, and running down her legs. She winced at the sight of the bruises, and sighed before making her way back into the bathroom and washing her face. The concealer she was wearing easily washed off, and unmasked her bruised covered face. She had two black eyes, and her cheeks and jaw were a nasty shade of black and blue, and to top it all off, a newly busted lip. Well one good thing could come of this. The cuts she had made blended in quite nicely.

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><p>That night, Brittany lay awake in bed. She hadn't been able to fall asleep; the image of Rachel's severely bruised body plaguing her mind. She groaned and turned onto her side. She had everything for tomorrow planned out in her head, from the song she was going to sing to what she was going to say, but for some reason, she had a very uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She's never had any experience with anything like this before, and she was on the fence about asking Santana for help. They may have hit a rough spot in their friendship, but she could still count on her to be there for her when she needed it. But she was almost one hundred percent sure the only solution the Latina would have would be to beat the shit out of Finn, and she wasn't sure if that was what Rachel needed right now. First off, she needed to get the diva to trust her, which probably wouldn't be that hard, since Rachel was probably the most trusting and forgiving person Brittany knew. Her plan was fail proof, well at least in her mind it was. Brittany turned back onto her back and groaned. It was well past 2 am, and she was pretty sure she needed to get at least some sleep to have tomorrow go as planned. She picked up her phone and texted the one person she knew wouldn't get mad at her for waking her up at two in the morning.<p>

**I cant sleep :\ -B**

Brittany placed the phone at her side, and only had to wait a few seconds for a reply to come.

**Relly? I was havin a FINE time sleepin till u txtd me. Wats rong? -S**

Brittany sighed and quickly typed out her next message. It was now or never.

**San, wat wld u do if u had a frend who was bein hurt by there bf? –B**

**U mean like bein abusive? –S**

**Yeah –B**

**I wld kick his ass –S**

Brittany sighed and looked down at her phone in disappointment. Of course that would be the only advice she would get. Her phone buzzed again and she opened the new message.

**Y? is this happenin to some1? –S**

Brittany's eyes widened and she fumbled to type out a reply, but nothing seemed to sound right.

… –**B**

**Britt… is there something ur not telling me? –S**

… –**B**

**U no this is serious, rite? Ud tell me if this was happenin –S**

… –**B**

After replying, Brittany almost immediately regretted texting Santana in the first place. What could she say? She just couldn't lie to her best friend.

**Okay B, wats goin on? –S**

Brittany didn't know what to say. She's never lied to Santana before, and she didn't want to start now. So she decided on the easiest way out.

**I'm gonna go 2 bed now, real tired, nite San! –B**

Brittany sent the message and turned off her phone, knowing that if she didn't reply, Santana would end up calling her. And it would be hard to dodge this subject through a phone call. She curled up into her covers and closed her eyes, knowing Santana would probably be giving her hell about this tomorrow. She was almost asleep when her home phone rang. She groaned and got out of bed to answer before any of her other family members could. Stupid Santana and her smart brain.

"Hello?" she answered groggily through the phone.

"_Britt, what the fuck's going on?" _Santana almost yelled through the phone_. "You know you have to explain this to me now right? It's not Artie is it? I swear to fucking God, I don't care if he's a crip, I will push him off a fucking cliff…"_

Brittany's eyes shot open and she began to shake her head vigorously, "No! Artie's great, he'd never hurt me."

"_Then who it is?" _she asked, beginning to sound a little exasperated.

"Listen S, I don't even know if I'm right, okay? So please just forget I brought it up." Okay, it wasn't the full truth since she was like, 99 percent sure she was right, but it wasn't really a COMPLETE lie.

"_You know, half the time when you think something's wrong, SOMETHING'S WRONG! Please just tell me, you're getting me worried."_

"Listen San, its 3 am. I'm tired. Please, I'll talk to you tomorrow, g'night." Brittany hung up the phone before Santana could reply and unplugged it from its cord for good measure before heading back to bed. She lay back down in her bed and fell into an uneasy sleep, hoping she hadn't just ruined everything.

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><p>What do you think? Should Santana find out or no?<p> 


	4. Trouble

**Not As Dumb As You Think**

**Chapter 4: Trouble**

**A/N: **Thank you guys so much for all the great reviews, I got more reviews for the last chapter than I did for chapter one and two combine :D thank you guys so much!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, self injury, and smut for later chapters, and possible rape.

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><p>Rachel quickly walked down the halls, trying to get to her locker as fast as possible while remaining unseen by Brittany. She sighed in relief when she saw no sign of the blonde and ran to her locker, hastily entering her combination before pulling out the needed books. She slammed her locker and turned around, only to be met face to face with Brittany. Rachel let out a quiet yell, dropping her books on the floor. Brittany jumped back in surprise, before recovering and smiling softly at the brunette.<p>

"Brittany," Rachel acknowledged shakily, with a small nod of her head. She dusted herself off and bent down to pick up her books. Brittany couldn't help but notice how stiffly Rachel was moving, and frowned to herself in concern. Rachel stood back up and met the tall blonde's worried gaze. She averted her eyes to the floor and blushed slightly, but it was barely noticeable due to the immense amount of make-up caked onto her face. "It was great talking to you, but I really must be getting to my first class," Rachel muttered under her breath, before turning attempting to make a break for it, but Brittany was faster and firmly grasped Rachel's wrist.

"Rachel, wait," Rachel's eyes widened as Brittany's hand collided with her brand new cuts. She gasped in pain as she felt a couple of her cuts reopening before whirling around and yanking her arm from Brittany's grip. Great, now she needed to get to a bathroom before the blood soaked through her sweatshirt. "Sorry," she whispered apologetically and taking a step back. Rachel looked down at her shoes, and hid her left arm behind her back.

"What?" Rachel asked quietly, her voice cracking. Brittany sighed and took a step forward.

"Rachel, you need to get out," Brittany said in a wavering voice. "I see what's going on, and it needs to stop. You need to get away from him." Rachel bowed her head and her bottom lip began to tremble, but she quickly shook it off, covering it up with a harsh glare.

"You don't know anything about me," she hissed out through clenched teeth. "You have no idea what's going on between Finn and me, you don't know anything about my personal life. You don't know anything!" she yelled loudly, her voice increasing in volume with each word. She took a step forward so she was directly in front of Brittany. "Just stay out of my life," she whispered in a dangerously low voice. Neither girl had noticed Santana enter the halls, or how she began to stalk towards them at an alarming pace.

"Hey, stay the fuck away from her RuPaul!" Santana yelled down the hall. Rachel looked up just in time, to see Santana shove her in the stomach, away from Brittany. It wasn't really that hard of a push, but it felt like a full on punch as Santana's hands made contact with the bruises on her midsection. Rachel whimpered and shot backwards, but she must've miscaulculated the distance between herself and the wall, because her back forcefully slammed into the lockers. That would have hurt even without the extra bruises, but with them taken into consideration, it hurt a hundred times worse. Rachel's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she groaned in pain as she fell to her knees, panting heavily with a hand clamped over her stomach. Everybody in the halls had stopped and stared, and Santana was looking at her in pure shock. "What the fuck Manhands?" Santana yelled in a high pitched voice, "I barely even touched you!" Rachel remained unmoving on the ground, trembling in excruciating pain. She felt her stomach flip, and she immediately stood on shaky knees and ran for the closest bathroom, almost losing her footing several times. Santana was still staring at her in surprise, and Brittany in concern. The tall blonde started towards the bathroom, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "You go to class, I got this," Santana mumbled. Brittany was about to protest, but Santana had already walked passed her briskly, and towards the restroom. Brittany sighed in defeat and reluctantly picked Rachel's books up from the ground before making her way to her first class.

Santana entered the girl's bathroom and immediately heard retching from one of the stalls. She sighed and took a step forward, but halted as she noticed the group of girls whispering around the sinks. "Alright, everybody out!" she barked, the girls turned to glare at her, but once they had seen the owner of the voice, their expressions immediately turned to fear before quickly scurrying out of the bathroom. She smirked at their retreating forms before returning her attention back to Rachel. "Berry?' she asked out loud, in a noticeably softer tone. Hey, what could she say? She still hated Rachel, but she didn't like it when people were sick. She gently pushed open the stall, and found Rachel vomiting loudly over the toilet. She took a deep breath, before grabbing a spare hair band off her wrist and sloppily pulling her hair back into a messy pony tail. She stepped back and waited for Rachel to finish in the door of the stall. The diva coughed loudly and spit into the toilet, before flushing and pushing herself up. She braced herself against the walls of the stall and took a few deep breaths before turning and walking out. She walked directly to the sinks and began to rinse her mouth out with water. Santana began to dig through her bag, until she produced a bottle of mouthwash and handed it to Rachel, who stared at her questioningly.

"Why do you…" she began in a raspy voice.

"Hey, I'm hot," she cut her off with a smirk, "Can't be having bad breath when I'm getting my mack on, can I?" Santana's smirk faded as she remembered who she was talking to, and frowned, "Don't question it Berry, just use it," she sneered in a much more threatening tone. Rachel nodded shakily and took a swig, before spitting it into the sink.

"Thanks," she muttered softly, handing the bottle back to Santana and looking down in embarrassment.

"No problem," she mumbled, throwing it back into her backpack before turning back to Rachel. "Okay Treasure Trail, I'm going to ask you one more time, what the fuck happened back there? I didn't push you nearly hard enough to send you flying like that." Rachel nervously started playing with the bottom of her hoodie, and that's when she noticed her arm had bled through her sleeve, and the bloodstain was growing in size. Her eyes widened and she hid her arm behind her back, and looked up at Santana. The Latina hadn't seemed to notice, and was tapping her foot with crossed arms, waiting for an answer.

"I uh, I t-tripped," Rachel stuttered, glancing at the stalls and planning her escape.

"You tripped?" Santana questioned with a quirked eyebrow, "And tripping caused you to run to the bathroom and puke your guts out?"

"I wasn't feeling good," Rachel muttered in reply, her eyes flickering over to the stalls. "You can leave now Santana, you're going to be late to class." Santana scoffed and took a step closer to Rachel.

"Like hell I'm leaving! I'll go as soon as I get an honest answer. You have Brittany worried sick you know, and that annoys the shit out of me, so just spill it." Rachel was beginning to feel extremely lightheaded. Her whole left sleeve was soaked at this point, and she could feel the blood dripping down her arm. Maybe adding those extra five cuts before school wasn't such a good idea. It was hard enough getting them to stop bleeding the first time, but now with her old cuts reopened, it was going to be hell. Rachel staggered backwards and leaned against the wall, bringing her right hand up to her head.

"Santana, leave," she ordered weakly, her legs beginning to give out.

"No," she stated firmly, taking a step closer "What's going on? Are you going to throw up again?" Rachel shook her head and slid to the floor. She lowered her head between her legs and let her left arm fall limp to her side. "HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Santana yelled as Rachel's bloody arm came into view. She grabbed a roll of paper towels and rushed to her side. She took Rachel's left arm, and yanked her sleeve up, gasping loudly. She had been expecting the deep cuts in the diva's forearm, but she hadn't been expecting the deep black and blue bruises accompanying them. "Oh my god, it's you," she whispered quietly, staring at Rachel's paling face. She tore off a long sheet of the paper towel and began adding pressure to Rachel's arm. Rachel winced as Santana pressed over her bruises, and tried to pull away, but Santana held fast. The bleeding began to subside, and Santana started wrapping the paper towel around Rachel's arm like an ace bandage, while mumbling softly under her breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, oh God, I'm gonna kill that boy, I'm so fucking sorry," she whispered quietly, as tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"Don't tell anybody," she mumbled quietly, as her vision became blurry, and started to cloud over with dark spots. As soon as Rachel's body fell limp, Santana began to panic. She quickly tied off the paper towel bandage and replaced her sleeve, before picking her up. The diva was surprisingly much lighter than she looked, and that was saying something. She ran out the door of the bathroom, and began sprinting through the halls, out the front door, and to her car. She placed Rachel's motionless body in the passengers' seat, and strapped her in, before flooring the car and speeding out of the parking lot. She had no idea where Rachel lived, so she decided her house would be the best bet. Both of her parents were working, so it would be completely empty. Which meant no questions. Santana sped towards her house and tried to focus on something other than the fact that Rachel Berry was in her car, potentially bleeding out. She clenched her jaw shut and urged the car to go faster. They arrived at the house and record time, and Santana thanked God they didn't get pulled over by the cops. It would've been hell trying to explain this. She picked Rachel up and ran inside the house, up the stairs, and into her room. She gently placed Rachel on her bed, and ran to her bathroom to get antibacterial, and ace bandage, gauze, and a towel. She walked to Rachel side and pulled of her hoodie. She flinched at the bruising along her arms, but quickly shook it off, knowing there would be worse to come. Next to go was her shirt. As soon as it was off, Santana released a loud sob. There were deep hues of black, blue, purple, and yellow covering her stomach. She bit back her tears as she removed the wrap from Rachel's arm. The gashes were deep, but the bleeding had slowed considerably. Santana absorbed the extra blood with her towel, before covering her arm in ointment, laying gauze over the top, and bandaging it down. Santana threw the rest of her supplies on the floor, and sat on the bed next to Rachel.

To say Rachel was scared when she woke up in a strange bed, topless, next to Santana Lopez, would be an understatement.

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><p>THIS WILL BE A BRITTBERRY RELATIONSHIP FIC! There will be a strong PezBerry friendship though. Sorry if you didn't like the turn out, not a fan of it myself, but it will get better, and there will be more BrittBerry in the near future :)<p> 


	5. Help

**Not As Dumb As You Think**

**Chapter 5: Help**

**A/N: **Thanks for all the positive feedback and favoriting :) it really great to log on and see like ten reviews there, so here's the next chapter, and please remember to review :D Oh, and I'm looking for a beta reader. Anybody who's interested please PM me. Thanks :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, self injury, and smut for later chapters, and possible rape.

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><p>Rachel's mind slowly began to regain consciousness. The first thing her clouded head was able to register was she was no longer sitting on the cold, hard bathroom floor. Wait, how did she even end up there in the first place? She remembers getting pushed, throwing up, bleeding out in front of… in front of Santana Lopez? The same Santana Lopez who's main goal was to make her life a living hell? The same Santana Lopez who slushies her on a daily basis, and shoves her into lockers? Oh no, why her? Anybody but her. But wait, if it was Santana who had seen her like that, why did she feel warm and soft, like she was in a bed? Why wasn't she stuffed in a closet? Or stranded in the middle of the woods? Or thrown into the ocean? She slowly moved her arm, and she was able to feel the fluffiness of the blankets against her skin. Against her skin? Wait, where was her sweatshirt? She groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, and the blinding lights were burning her retinas. She immediately squeezed her eyes shut again. The mattress shifted next to her, and she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.<p>

"Berry?" A distant voice asked. Yup, that was definitely Santana. She pried her eyes back open, and turned her head to the side. Right beside her was the fiery Latina, but instead of the harsh, threatening scowl she usually wore, she looked genuinely concerned. Rachel's eyes widened and she whimpered softly. She tried to sit up, but the pain in her stomach decided otherwise. She gasped, and lay back down, her gaze flickering down her shirtless body. Her abdomen was bare; you could see every single bruise on her midsection. Her eyes trailed over her arms and settled on the bandage covering her left forearm. She furrowed her brow in confusion, hadn't remembered doing that. Her eyes widened in realization, and she fearful glanced up at Santana. She threw off the blankets and shot out of bed, ignoring the pain to the best of her abilities.

"No, no, no, no, no, no," she chanted as she searched the room for her clothes. "This isn't happening. This can't be happening. I'm dreaming, I have to be dreaming, I…" she began hyperventilating as she frantically tried to find her shirt. Santana got off the bed and walked to Rachel's side.

"Berry, calm down, your clothes are in the wash, okay? Just relax," she gently grabbed Rachel's hand, and tried to pull her back towards the bed, but the diva ripped out of her grasp and backed into the wall.

"No!" she yelled, sliding to the floor and curling into a ball, "D-don't hurt me, please, I didn't do anything wrong, please don't hurt me," she sobbed, burying her face into her arms. Santana was at a loss. She choked back her own tears, and knelt in front of Rachel.

"Berry, look at me, I'm not going to hurt you, okay? How about I call Brittany, and she can come over and…" Rachel began shaking her head violently, and curled further into herself.

"Please, don't tell anybody. He loves me. He doesn't mean to hurt me; he does it because he loves me." Santana stared at her in shock.

"Rachel, I don't care if he 'loves' you or not, nobody is worth being beat on a regular basis. That's not what love is." She whispered gently, taking her hand.

"Don't you dare tell me what love is Santana Lopez," Rachel growled, yanking her hand away, "You're the reason he left me in the first place! I finally got him back, and I'm not going to let you rip him away from me again." She paused and took a deep breath. "He loves me, he cares about me." She added shakily.

"If you really believed that, you wouldn't be doing this," Santana yelled in desperation, grabbing Rachel's wrist and holding up her bandaged arm. Rachel's eyes widened and she looked down in shame, her bottom lip beginning to tremble.

"That's got nothing to do with it," she whispered softly.

"It's got everything to do with it!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "Love is when someone makes you feel good, it's like, when you're with that person, you feel safe and completed. It's gentle and caring, not rough and angry. So please just trust me when I say that this… this isn't love." Rachel took a shaky breath and lowered her head in defeat. Santana sighed, and stood up, extending a hand to help Rachel off the ground. She hoisted Rachel off the floor; and noticed how Rachel flinched in pain once she was fully on her feet. Rachel painfully walked back to Santana's bed, before sitting down, and sighing. Santana rifled through her closet before pulling out an old WMHS hoodie and tossing it to Rachel. "Put this on, you probably don't want my parents seeing, and they'll be home soon." Rachel slipped into the sweatshirt, while Santana took a seat on the bed next to her.

"Can you drive me home?" Rachel asked in a trembling tone.

"Are your dads home?" Santana asked, lying back on the bed.

"Yes."

"Liar."

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked, staring at Santana in surprise.

"You're lying. They're gone."

"And how would you know that?"

Santana dug Rachel's phone out of her pocket and tossed it on the bed. "They texted you. It says, 'having a great time on our cruise, love Dad and Daddy,' they're gone." Rachel slumped her shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Will you please just drive me home?"

"No."

"Why?"

Santana turned to Rachel and raised her eyebrows. "Do you seriously think I'll let you stay home alone for who-knows-how-long, knowing that Finn's beating you?"

"I told you, Finn loves me!" Rachel yelled, desperately trying to convince the Latina.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say Berry."

"Fine, then I'll just walk home." Rachel huffed, grabbing her phone, and standing up.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

Santana sighed and walked to Rachel's side. "Berry, it hurt to walk across half the room to get to my bed. Your house is probably miles away. Plus, you fainted from blood loss like, two hours ago; I think you should just take it easy for a while." Rachel looked like she was about to protest, but decided against it, and reluctantly drug herself back over to the bed. She plopped down on the mattress and lay back down on the bed. Santana walked to her side, and took out her phone. "Good, now you stay there, and I'm going to go call Brittany. She's got her free period right now, so she can probably come right over." Rachel whipped her head towards the Latina and began shaking her head vigorously.

"No, you can't tell her! She… Brittany… she's- she's too innocent, I can't let her see me like this!" Santana sighed and lowered her phone.

"You know, she already knows about you and Finn, she's the one who told me."

"But she doesn't know about the… the…" Rachel trailed off, lifting her arm.

"Oh, you mean the cutting?" Santana asked bluntly. Rachel flinched and nodded slowly, "Keep your arms hidden then, I won't tell her. I don't like seeing her hurt anymore than you, but she's really worried. I'm calling her, just relax okay?" Santana began dialing her phone, and walked into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.

Rachel groaned, and buried her head in the pillow. How did she know she could trust Santana? How did she know this wasn't some sick, twisted prank? She wished she could talk to Finn. Finn would understand, he would help her, he would know what to do. She wished Finn was here, she wished he could come pick her up, but she knew if she called him, Santana would beat the life out of him. She deserved the pain, and the bruises, but Finn didn't. How did her life become so messed up in the first place? It was perfect, until that stupid kiss with Puck. Ever since that night Finn had been different. He had become so much more aggressive, and angry. But she still had him. Someone who actually notices her, and that's all that matters. Someone's better than no one, right? Rachel sighed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders; she wanted her brain to shut up. She wanted everything in her life to stop for just one second so she could clear her head. Everything was just so confusing, she wished someone was there to tell her what to do, and give her all the answers. She knew her relationship with Finn wasn't normal, but it was all she had, and she would take it. She curled into the covers and closed her eyes. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night, with Finn's yelling… and punching. She relaxed into the covers and began to drift off. She was almost asleep, when Santana burst through the door, completely oblivious to the half-asleep diva.

"Brittany should be here in like fifteen minutes." She closed her phone, and glanced up at Rachel. "You look tired; you can go to sleep if you want." Santana crossed the room sat at her desk, starting up her laptop. Rachel sleepily sat up and faced the Latina.

"Why are you doing this?" Rachel asked quietly, tracing the patterns of the blanket with her fingertips, "You hate me." Santana sighed, and turned to face the diva.

"I don't hate you, I just…" Santana paused, and thought for a second. "Listen, you would've done the same thing for me, okay?" Rachel nodded slowly, and raised her head, locking eyes with Santana.

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly, "For breaking down in front of you like that, I… I panicked."

"Hey, don't worry about it, like I said, you would have done the same for me," Santana reassured her, "Now get some rest, you look like a zombie." Rachel lay back down and pulled the covers up, and as soon as she closed her eyes, she was out. Santana immediately heard the deep even breathing from her bed, and turned around to find Rachel already fast asleep. What's funny was she was calling her Manhands and RuPaul just a few hours ago, and now she was about ready to punch the lights out of the next person who even looked at her funny. She sighed and turned back to her computer, and logged onto Facebook. After raiding the News Feed for a few minutes, she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. She quietly stood up, and walked out of her room, and headed downstairs to the entrance hall. She opened the front door, and Brittany immediately walked inside, instantly making her way up the staircase. "Britt, wait," Santana called after her. She grabbed Brittany's arm and spun her around to face each other.

"It's all my fault," Brittany whispered, tears running down her cheeks, "I should've noticed sooner, I should've told someone sooner, it's my fault," she launched herself into the Latina's arms and started crying into her chest.

"Hey hey, it's not your fault, okay?" Santana comforted quietly, "You're not the only one who should've noticed, it's everyone's fault, we all should've noticed, we see her everyday. We should be able to tell when something's off, but we didn't. We were supposed to be her teammates, and we should've seen through her mask, we should've noticed how she was slowly breaking, but we were so caught up in our own petty problems, we couldn't," Santana held back her own tears and tightened her grip around Brittany. "But right now, that's not important. All that's important is that we know, and we're going to help her, okay?" Brittany nodded, before sniffling and pulling away, wiping her eyes.

"I need to see her," Brittany ordered shakily, turning around and making her way to Santana's room. Before she could get too far, the Latina stopped her, and pulled her away from the door.

"Britt wait, you can't see her now, she's asleep, I don't think she got much last night because of… Finn," she winced at the boy's name, and a small grimace flickered over Brittany's features. "How about you wait outside the door, and I'll wake her up, you need to cool down first." Brittany nodded slowly and took a shaky breath, before reluctantly waiting outside the doorframe as Santana entered her room. The first thing she heard was a small whimper emanate from her bed. She quickly glanced towards the brunette, and found Rachel twisted into her covers, writhing in fear, her face contorted in pain. "Berry?" she asked softly, walking to the diva's side. She placed a hand on her shoulder, but as soon as they made contact, Rachel flinched, and whimpered loudly. Santana sighed and kneeled besides the bed. "C'mon Berry, wake up," she pleaded softly; Rachel gasped, and pulled the blankets up further. "Shit," the Latina whispered under her breath. She wasn't good with this sort of thing, comforting people. She was good at making Brittany feel better, but Rachel was totally different. This was usually Brittany's job, not hers. Rachel yelled out in pain, before hugging her knees to her chest and tightening her grip on the covers. "Screw this," Santana muttered under her breath, before grabbing Rachel by her shoulder and beginning to shake her vigorously, "Hey, wake up!" she yelled loudly, she let go as she felt the diva jerk awake below her. Rachel's eyes shot open and she glanced up at Santana in fear, before sitting bolt upright, and huddling into the headboard. Santana sat on the bed next to her, but she quickly got off as Rachel whimpered softly. "Rachel?" she asked in a gentle tone, "Are you okay?"

"Is Brittany here?' she whispered in a broken tone.

"Yeah, she's waiting in the-"

"Get Brittany," Rachel ordered weakly, her head resting on her knees. Santana nodded and rushed to her door, before opening it, and stepping into the hallway.

"Okay Britt, she's ready but I'm going to warn you now, she's fucking broken," Santana's voice wavered slightly; there was just something about not being able to fix this that hit the Latina hard. She was always in control, but right now, there was nothing she could do to make this all just go away. She had absolutely no handle on this situation. Brittany nodded and offered a sad smile before slipping past Santana.

"I already knew that San," she turned to face the bed, and her smile dropped as she found Rachel curled into herself, shaking in fear. "Rachel?" she asked softly, slowly walking towards the bed. Rachel lifted her head and locked eyes with the tall blonde. She silently begged Brittany to come closer, and to just tell her everything would be okay, to tell her that they weren't going to leave her. Brittany slowly moved forward and sat on the bed next to Rachel. She placed a gentle hand on her back and pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around her waist. Rachel buried her face into the dancer's neck, and a deep sob ripped from her throat. Brittany soothingly rubbed her back, and shushed her softly. "It's okay Rach," she whispered softly, "I promise, everything's going to be fine."

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><p><strong>AN 2. **Damn, this was a helluva pain to write. I actually started this immediately after my last post, but I couldn't seem to get anything to sound right. So, like I said before, I'm looking for a beta, so if your interested, PM me. Thanks.

Oh and before I go, I have a few questions.

1. Should I have a nice Quinn, or a bitchy Quinn?

2. Quintana? For later chapters. Much later.

3. What do you think should happen?

Thanks for all the reviews guys :) keep em, it makes it ten times funner to write when I get reviews.


	6. Away To Rachel's

**Not As Dumb As You Think**

**Chapter 6: Away to Rachel's**

**A/N: **Holy shit you guys, I got a butt load of reviews for the last chapter. Like seriously, I got like thirty reviews. Who has the awesomest reviewers in the world? Me! Haha lets see if you guys can top that this time :) Oh and thanks to matchbookjealousy for beta-ing for me :) OH and JSYK, Brittany, Santana and Quinn are all still on the cheerios.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, self injury, and smut for later chapters, and possible rape.

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><p>Rachel finally pulled away from Brittany's warm embrace after about an hour of crying. Brittany's entire front was soaked in tears, and stained with smudged concealer. Brittany gently patted Rachel's back, and wiped the tears from the brunette's eyes.<p>

"You okay?" she asked softly, giving her hand a firm squeeze. Rachel sniffled and wiped her eyes before giving a small nod.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she whispered, attempting to sit up straight, and compose herself. Santana snorted loudly from the opposite side of Brittany.

"Berry, you just spent an hour bawling your eyes out on my bed. I think it's safe to say that you're not fine." Rachel looked down in embarrassment before glancing at Brittany's drenched top.

"I'm sorry about your shirt," she mumbled under her breath, dropping her eyes to the floor.

"It's nothing, I'll just borrow something from Santana," Rachel nodded before standing up and heading for the door.

"Thanks for helping me out and everything, but I really should be getting home…" she opened the door to leave, but a firm hand grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away.

"Oh no you don't," Santana yanked her back towards the bed and sat her down, "I told you before, no fucking way you're staying home alone with Finn out there. You're staying here till your dads get back." Rachel slumped her shoulders dropped her gaze to the carpet.

"Can I at least grab some of my things from my house?" Santana sighed, and stood up, smoothing her hair out, and extending her hand towards Rachel.

"Fine, but if we're going to go, we're going now. Before school lets out and there's no way Finn's gonna be there." Rachel nodded slowly, and took hold of Santana's hand. The Latina must have forgotten how tiny the diva was, and as she pulled her up, Rachel violently lurched forward and slammed into Santana's chest. Santana grunted and stumbled backwards, grabbing Rachel's shoulders to steady themselves. "Damn Berry, when did you get so light?" Rachel's face flushed in embarrassment, and pushed herself away from the Latina, brushing herself off.

"Sorry," she mumbled softly. And of course, that was the moment Rachel's empty stomach decided to make its presence known with a loud growl. The brunette blushed an even deeper shade of red and looked down in embarrassment. Santana raised her eyebrows questioningly, and crossed her arms across her chest. "I've just been really busy lately, and haven't had enough time to eat." Rachel weakly defended herself. Santana nodded slowly, clearly not convinced.

"Okay, new plan, first we eat, then we hit your place, got it Berry?"

"Santana, I can assure you I'm fine, I'm really not hung-"

"Bullshit." Santana grumbled loudly, "From what I've picked up in anatomy, when your stomach growls as loud as yours did, it means your hungry." Rachel whipped her head towards Santana, and delivered an icy glare.

"From what I've picked up in school, you don't care about me," Rachel all but sneered back.

"I may be a bitch but that doesn't mean I'm heartless," the Latina growled in return. Santana's features slightly softened, as she relaxed her shoulders. "We may not be 'friends' or anything Berry, but when I found you in the bathroom, it honestly scared the shit out of me. It may not seem like it, but if something happened to you, I would care. If I didn't, I wouldn't have brought you to my house; I would've put you in a box and sent you to Russia." Rachel visibly calmed, and exhaled deeply.

"Fine," Rachel mumbled under her breath, "Let's go." The brunette pushed herself off the bed, and headed out of the room, closely followed by the two cheerios. She made it halfway down the stairs before grasping onto the railing, tightening her grip on the wood and trying to ignore the severe pain shooting through her body.

"Rach, are you okay?" Brittany asked softly, placing a gentle hand on the diva's lower back. "You're kind of limping."

"I'm fine," she answered quietly, taking another step down the steps. She wasn't quite expecting the unbearable pain to shoot up her spine. She gasped, and her knees buckled beneath her, completely giving out. But, before she was able to hit the ground she felt a pair of strong, graceful arms wrap around her midsection. The next thing she knew, she was hoisted into the air, and her arms were wrapped tightly wrapped around Brittany's neck as the tall blonde carried her back up the stairs.

"I think it would be best if you just relaxed a little while," Brittany whispered softly into Rachel's ear, carrying her back into Santana's room and laying her down on the bed.

"But, I need to get my stuff," Rachel sat back up and tried to get out of bed, but Brittany grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back down.

"Just, give it an hour, okay?" Rachel opened her mouth to protest, but Brittany jutted her bottom lip and stared at Rachel with wide eyes. "Please?" Rachel sighed dejectedly, and crawled back under the covers. What could she say? No one could deny Brittany's pout.

"Fine," Rachel muttered under her breath, "One hour." Rachel laid her head on the pillow and slowly closed her eyes. In under five minutes, she was asleep again, snoring softly. Brittany smiled, and gently ran her finger tips along Rachel's cheek. Her smile immediately fell, as Rachel flinched in her sleep, and slightly pulled away from her. She looked closely at Rachel's cheeks, and she could faintly make out dark purple splotches hidden under her mask of makeup. Her frown deepened, and she turned to face the Latina sitting behind her.

"San, do you have any makeup remover?" Santana nodded, and got up off the bed, walking briskly to her bathroom. Brittany turned back to Rachel, and softly brushed the hair from her face. She rested her left hand on Rachel's stomach, but quickly pulled away as the diva whimpered quietly. Her mind flashed back to yesterday, how the brunette collapsed during Glee, how extensive the bruising on her abdomen was. She frowned and slowly grabbed hold of the hem of Rachel's sweatshirt. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before carefully pulling up the bottom of the hoodie. She opened her eyes, and her hand flew over her mouth to stifle a gasp. There were brand new, still forming black and purple bruises scattered across her ribcages. She hadn't remembered seeing them that fresh in the bathroom yesterday. She quickly blinked her eyes to keep her tears at bay, and hovered her fingers over Rachel's abused skin. She tightly shut her eyes and forced herself to take deep, even breaths as her eyes began to brim with tears. She felt a gentle hand softly squeeze her shoulder, and slowly lower Rachel's shirt. Brittany turned around, and met Santana sad, reassuring gaze. The Latina shot her a small smile, before raising the bottle of makeup remover.

"Here," she whispered quietly, handing the bottle to Brittany, along with several cotton pads. Brittany nodded her thanks before screwing the cap open, and gently wetting a cotton pad. She paused for a second and braced herself before slowly running the pad along her jaw line. Her breath caught in her throat as a trail of purple followed her movements. She continued to gently wash away the concealer, until her face was completely clean. All in all, Rachel had a black eye, two nasty bruises on her left cheek and one on her right, three more bruises along her jaw, and to wrap it all up, a busted lip. After revealing the full extent of the damage, Brittany felt her chest constrict painfully, and tears begin to streak down her cheeks. Without thinking, she shoved the supplies behind her, before slowly lowering herself next to Rachel and protectively wrapping her arms around the diva. Rachel, who was still in a deep sleep, mumbled something incoherent before shuffling closer to the tall blonde and burying her head into the crook of Brittany's neck. Brittany sniffled, and wiped her eyes before relaxing into the bed.

She felt the bed shift underneath her, before Santana cleared her throat. "I'll just… be on my laptop," she whispered, quietly making her way to the opposite side of the room. Brittany replied with a small nod before closing her eyes, letting Rachel's deep, even breathing slowly calm her down.

* * *

><p>"Britt, Britt wake up." Brittany groaned as Santana gently shook her shoulders. She subconsciously raised her arm to smack away the offending hand, but missed and ended up hitting the headboard instead.<p>

"Five more minutes," she mumbled sleepily, snuggling further into the blankets and tightening her grip around Rachel. She heard Santana sigh, before feeling the blankets being removed from on top of her. "Hey," she sat up, rubbing her eyes and fixing her annoyed gaze on Santana, "That wasn't very nice."

"You can sleep later, but right now we need to get to Berry's, grab her shit, and get our asses back here. School gets out in an hour, wake the midget up and get her ready to go." Brittany cocked her head to the side and looked at Santana in confusion.

"What do you mean an hour? We've only been asleep for like-" she glanced at her watch, and her eyes widened in surprise, "Three hours…" she trailed off, she quickly glanced at the diva laying next to her, before returning her stare at Santana. "San, why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Santana smirked and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Sorry, I was having too much fun taking pictures." Brittany huffed in annoyance and quickly threw the blankets the rest of the way off, turning to Rachel. She took a deep breath, before gingerly placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking gently.

"Rachel," she whispered softly, "Wake up, we need to go." Rachel groaned, and flipped onto her back, burying her face in the pillow.

"Uh-uh," she grumbled drowsily, "Go later, I like sleep." Brittany giggled, before throwing the covers off of the diva, and lightly bouncing on the bed.

"C'mon Rach, we need to go, when we come back, I promise, you can sleep as long as you want. I'll even carry you if you want." Rachel sighed in defeat, before reluctantly pushing herself up.

"Fine, I'm up," she brushed her hair out of her face, before facing Brittany. "But before we go, I need to…" she looked down in embarrassment, and motioned to her heavily bruised face. Brittany's smile faltered for a second, but she quickly recovered, and stood up.

"Its okay, no one's going to see you, everybody's still at school," She spun around and began walking to the door, "C'mon, let's go." She made it halfway to the door, before realizing Rachel wasn't following her. She turned around in confusion and frowned. "What's wrong, aren't you coming?"

Rachel cracked a small smile and locked eyes with Brittany. "Yeah, but you said you would carry me." Brittany broke into a huge grin, and strode over to the side of the bed. She lifted the brunette into her arms with ease, continuing her way out the door. Brittany quickly walked to her car, placing Rachel in the passenger seat, while Santana climbed into the back, before sitting behind the wheel herself.

"So where should we eat?" Brittany asked as she pulled out of the driveway. Rachel looked clearly uncomfortable and swallowed thickly.

"You know, if we don't have enough time, it would be okay if we just skipped-"

"In your fucking dreams, Berry," Santana growled from the back seat. "No offense or anything, but if you don't eat something soon, you might just vanish into thin air."

Brittany quickly glanced at the clock, before returning her eyes on the road. "Let's just swing through McDonalds," she decided, quickly turning into the parking lot.

"Really Brittany, it's not necessary to-"

"Trust me Rachel, it's necessary." She pulled into the drive through and quickly glanced over the menu. "Okay, what'll you have?"

Rachel huffed in disagreement, "Fine, I'll have a side salad-"

"Fuck that, get her a Big Mac," Santana yelled loudly.

"Seriously Rach, you need something more than a salad."

"Uhm, I guess I'll have small fries, and water…"

"You know what? I'll just order for you," Brittany scanned over the menu and turned to the teller, "I'll have a large fry, a large coke, and two apple pies please." Rachel's eyes widened comically.

"B-Brittany! I couldn't possibly eat that much food!"

"Really? Well that sucks for you, now doesn't it?" she left Rachel with bulging eyes, her mouth opening and closing, much like a fish. She collected the food, and thrust it into Rachel's lap. "Here, now eat."

"Really Brittany, this is too much-"

"Just shut up and eat Berry," Santana growled from behind. Rachel gulped, and slowly withdrew her food from the bag. She picked up a fry, and took a deep breath before shoving it into her mouth. The salty, greasy taste made her feel like puking, but she quickly swallowed another handful. All in all, she was able to choke down half the fries, both the pies, and her drink. Once Brittany was satisfied, she continued to Rachel's house. Minutes later, they pulled into her driveway, and Rachel quickly jumped out of the car. "Grab the shit you need, and get your ass back out here. As fun as it sounds, I don't want to spend all day parked in your driveway." Rachel nodded before jogging towards her house, and in through the front door.

Twenty minutes later, and the two girls were still waiting in the car for Rachel. "Damn, what's taking the midget so freakin' long?" Santana asked impatiently. "It doesn't take this long to throw your clothes in a backpack and leave. I swear, if she's not out here in the next five minutes-" Santana was abruptly cut off as the front door opened and Rachel stepped out. "It's about fucking time!" Santana yelled.

Rachel slowly made her way across the lawn and towards the car. She threw her backpack in the back seat, beside Santana before climbing into the front. Brittany sat motionless, staring at Rachel suspiciously. The diva slowly raised her head to meet the blonde's worried gaze.

"What?" she asked quietly, dropping her eyes to her lap.

"You threw it up." Brittany stated bluntly. Rachel's breath caught in her throat, and she stared at Brittany in shock.

"N-no I didn't," she defended herself in a small voice.

"Yes, you did," Brittany accused softly, "Rachel, half of the Cheerios on the squad purge, I know what it looks like. You're pale, your eyes are watering, you're warm," she gently ran her fingers over Rachel's cheek, before taking the diva's trembling hand in her own, "And, you're shaking."

Rachel's wide eyes filled with tears, and she bowed her head in shame. "I told you it was too much," she whispered quietly.

"Hey, it's okay, we can just go back to Santana's and-"

"No, it's not okay!" Santana snapped, "None of this is anywhere close to being fucking okay! First you let Finn use you as a personal punching bag, then you faint on me in the bathroom, and now you won't fucking eat! We're trying to help you out here you know, and that's not something we do often, but it's not going to work unless you try. If you're just going to stand around and let that bastard destroy your life, we might as well let you go back in there, and let Finn have his way with you!" Rachel's eyes were brimming with tears, her knees tightly pulled up to her chest.

"San stop, you're making her upset."

"No Britt, she needs to hear this." She replied in a noticeably softer tone. "Listen Berry, I know you're going through a hard time with Finn, and you're parents never being around, and being the resident McKinley loser, but you aren't going to get through this if you give up so easy. The Rachel I used to know would have written a 10,000 word essay on abusive relationships, and broken up with Finn the first time he hit you, not accept it, and let it go on for God knows how long. Those bruises you have? Those aren't normal. That's not what you should be getting out of a relationship. Finn should be the one protecting you, not dishing it out. This needs to stop, now." By the time Santana was finished, Rachel had her head buried in her knees, openly crying.

"Can we please just go back to Santana's house now?" she asked in a weak, cracking voice. Brittany took a deep breath, and gently patted her on the back.

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

><p>Okay! Hey guys, what's up? So here's is my latest installment, not as good as my last ones but I've had a lot on my plate lately. Review and tell me how you like the story so far.<p>

QUESTIONS:

Do you want BrittBerry like, now, or do you want it to wait a little longer?


	7. Santana's

**Not As Dumb As You Think**

**Chapter 7: Santana's**

**A/N: **Hey guys, so I know I haven't been updating as frequently, and I apologize, I've been really busy. So, I had a huge drop in reviews, I went from like 30 to 18, so can we fix that? Oh, and we're at 100 reviews :) Anyone to review gets to send me a prompt for a one shot between Rachel, Santana, Brittany or Quinn, any pairings between those characters, or maybe even all of them, if you know what I mean ;) haha, and I will fill it to the best of my abilities no matter how smutty, angsty, or fluffy. Yep, I will fill every… single… one. Anyone can send me as many prompts as they want. But I'm only accepting prompts if you review, and until my next chapter is posted. So review and enjoy :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, self injury, and smut for later chapters, and possible rape.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Rachel walked through the halls of McKinley, Brittany and Santana flanking either side of her. Yeah, they were getting some pretty unusual stares, but everyone went right back to minding their own business as Santana glared at them all menacingly, clenching and unclenching her fists. Rachel's gaze was transfixed on the carpet as she slowly made her way to her locker.<p>

"You guys don't have to do this," she whispered, "I'm going to drag you guys to the bottom of the social pyramid."

"Or…" Santana cut her off, scowling at a freshman who had attempted to approach Rachel with a slushy. "_We_ could drag _you_ to the top. But seriously, you aren't gonna make it easy for us if you continue to dress like that."

They finally reached the diva's locker, and the two cheerios stood guard as Rachel exchanged her books. The brunette took a calming breath, and let herself crack a small smile. Maybe today would be different. Maybe she could get away with a single day without any name calling, or dumpster diving, or slushies. She felt her hopes immediately shatter as she felt cold ice splatter against the back of her neck, and harsh laughter break out in the halls behind her. She felt the heat rush to her face, as she willed herself not to cry.

"Hey, Manhands," Quinn smirked from behind her. "I was hoping you weren't coming back after skipping out on us yesterday, but I guess I'll just have to suffer through another day of seeing your hideous face every other period." Rachel whimpered quietly, she really didn't think she could take this sort of thing right now. She felt Brittany and Santana shuffle closely to her sides.

"Hey, watch it Blondie," Santana growled, as Brittany soothingly took the brunette's hand in her own. "You might be the Head Bitch around here, but that don't mean you can torture whoever the fuck you want, whenever the fuck you want." Quinn smirk quickly faded, and a scowl took its place as she fixed her cold stare on the Latina.

"Yeah? And when did you start caring about RuPaul? Last time I checked, you were torturing her right along with me." She whispered viciously.

"I'm warning you Tubbers," Santana hissed, taking a step towards Quinn, flexing her fists. Fear instantly flickered across Quinn's features as she automatically took a step back. She almost immediately recovered and her harsh scowl returned as she glared at the three girls one last time.

"Fine, you can have Berry, for all I care she can join the fuck-fest you and Brittany have going on." She turned on her heels and briskly strutted down the halls towards her first period.

Santana could feel the anger pumping through her veins as she let out a low growl, she took a step in the direction of the head cheerleader, but jerked away as a soft hand was placed on her shoulder. She spun around, and her anger immedialty dissipated as her eyes landed on the small brunette who had buried herself deep into Brittany side, breathing heavily.

"Rachel," Brittany began softly, "Just ignore her, she's a bitch. Let's go get you changed, okay?" Rachel shook her head and tightened her grip around the tall cheerleader.

"I want to go home." She whispered quietly.

"C'mon, just try, for me?" Brittany pleaded in a soothing tone. Rachel took a deep breath and slowly pulled away from Brittany. She inspected the blue corn syrup staining her sweatshirt, and sighed. She turned to her locker and quickly entered her combination, retrieving her emergency slushy kit, before whirling around and attempting to walk to the nearest bathroom, but she turned just in time to see a very angry looking Finn Hudson coming her way. Her eyes widened, and she could've sworn she felt her heart skip a beat. She instinctively took a step forward, but a firm hand grabbed the back of her hoodie and swiftly yanked her back.

"No way Midget," Santana ground out behind her, as Brittany protectively stepped in front of her.

"But, I need to talk to him," Rachel whined, trying to break out of Santana's grasp.

"Trust me Berry, if he gets his hands on you, you'll be doing a lot more than talking." The Latina kept her grip on the struggling diva.

"B-but, he loves me, a-and I need him," Rachel whimpered quietly.

Santana scoffed from behind. "Would you just drop the whole 'Oh he's so innocent' act? How many times do I have to tell you, what he's doing to you isn't okay."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she defended weakly.

Santana laughed humorlessly, "You seriously expect us to believe that after everything we went through yesterday?"

Rachel opened her mouth to argue, but quickly shut it as Finn approaches the three girls. He wore he's trademark goofy smile, but Brittany could see the concealed angry glint in his eyes.

"Rachel…" he began, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, "Can we talk."

"Of course Finn, I think we should go somewhere more-," Santana quickly cut her off with a hand over her mouth and glared at the tall boy.

"Why don't you go annoy someone else, Finnocence?" Santana purred in a dangerously low voice. Fire quickly flickered through the boy's eyes and he shot a scowl at Santana.

"She's my girlfriend, I can do what I want," he whispered coolly, carelessly shoving Brittany out of the way and grabbing Rachel by the wrist. Brittany whimpered quietly as she hit the ground, while Rachel gasped in pain. The pure rage returned and Santana growled, grabbing Rachel around the waist and pulling her out of the way, before forcefully shoving Finn against the lockers, and punching him repeatedly in the face.

"Don't you ever… mess with my girls… again…" she spat between swings. She felt his nose snap beneath his fist, before forcing him to the ground and kicking him in the ribs for good measure. She turned away from the cowering boy, and was met with a crowd of horrified bystanders. "What the fuck are you all staring at?" she yelled, pushing a couple of freshmen out of they way. They ocean of people immediately dispersed, revealing Brittany holding a terrified Rachel in her arms, the small girl shaking in fear. She quickly strode to the girls' sides, helping them off the ground. "I think we've had enough for one day, let's go."

And for the second day in a row, they left school before had it even started.

* * *

><p>"You guys really didn't need to do that," Rachel mumbled quietly, as the trio walked up the steps to the Lopez household.<p>

"Oh no Berry, we totally did," Santana replied nonchalantly as she fumbled with her keys. "They needed to be put in their place, and trust me, I would've gone all Lima Heights on Tubbers' ass if Brittany didn't hold me back." She flung the door open and the three girls hadn't even taken two steps before Mrs. Lopez was standing directly in front of them.

"Mija! What are you doing home so early? Just because I'm allowing your friend to stay doesn't mean you get to skip your studies," she scolded, eyes flickering from girl to girl. Mrs. Lopez had actually been pretty relaxed with Rachel staying. The moment Santana mentioned Rachel's parents being away on a cruise for a few months, her mother pretty much didn't give Rachel any other option but to stay.

"Oh, uhm, sorry Mami, Rachel uh, Rachel threw up in school, so we thought it would be best to take her home." Rachel stared at Santana in bewilderment.

"What? I did no such-"

"Oh, poor darling," Mrs. Lopez cooed, softly cupping Rachel's cheeks in her hands, "Why don't you head up to your room and lay down, I'll go make some soup and have it up in a minute, okay? Okay." She turned and quickly left for the kitchen, leaving Rachel standing in astonishment. She slowly turned to face Santana.

"Santana! That was highly unnecessary! You just had to go and make me look-"

"Just chill, Berry, what was I suppose to say? 'Oh, Rachel just confronted her abusive boyfriend, who left this horribly deep bruise on her wrist, so we thought it would be best to bring her home'" she mocked, placing her hands on her hips, "Yeah, that wouldn't set my mom off or anything."

Rachel huffed and slowly began walking up the stairs, slightly hurt by the statement but refusing to show it. "He's not abusive," she mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for the two other girls to hear.

Santana sighed, and walked to Rachel's side, "Yeah and I'm the Queen of England, but you don't see me bragging about it. Berry, if what he's doing isn't abuse, then I sure as hell don't know what is. He's your 'boyfriend', he yells at you, he hits you, hell, he beats the fucking shit out of you, and you're still saying that he's not abusive. That's bullshit, and you know it."

Rachel took a deep breath, and turned around, briskly walking to the guest room. She was on the verge of tears, but the other two girls had already seen enough, and she didn't want to give them anything else to use against her if everything did turn out to be a sick, twisted prank.

"Wait, I'm not done talking to you!" Santana yelled from the stairs, she ran to Rachel's side, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "Berry, I'm-"

"What do you want?" Rachel snapped, swatting Santana's hand away and jumping backwards, "My name's Rachel! R-A-C-H-E-L. It's not Berry, it's not midget, it's not Manhands, it's Rachel! I'm done with all of your crap all the time, Finn hasn't done anything wrong." Her mask slowly began to crack as she blinked back tears. "Are you trying to break me? Because it's working," She yelled, her harsh façade falling apart with each word. Tears began tracking down her cheeks, and she slowly slid to the ground. "I've h-had enough already, s-so please, just leave me a-alone."

Santana was clearly taken back by Rachel's outburst, while Brittany stood behind her, mouth agape. She cleared her throat, and smoothed out her shirt, before taking a seat next to Rachel on the floor. "Fine _Rachel,"_ she made sure to add emphasis on her name, "Do you honestly think that I'm the one breaking you here? Because I think I have a pretty good idea who the real perpetrator is, and it sure as hell ain't me."

"I-I just, and he- and I-" Rachel stuttered, before completely breaking into tears, "He's s-suppose to love me, I w-worked so hard to g-get him back, a-and he's suppose to l-love me." She gasped in between sobs. Santana awkwardly patted Rachel's back, before pleading Brittany for help. Brittany lowered herself on the ground, on Rachel's opposite side before draping an arm around her shoulder and gently pulling her closer. Rachel instantly relaxed into the warm embrace, as she tried to regain control of herself.

"Why don't we go into the guest room, okay?" Brittany suggested softly.

Rachel nodded, and wiped her eyes before standing up, and, with help from Brittany, heading to the guest room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN2:**Gosh you guys, I'm sorry for how bad my chapters have seemed lately, I've dug myself into a writers block, and I'm trying to get out. So, this is just short filler, well mostly, so leave a prompt, and hopefully this writer's block will go away so I can update again soon. Thanks for all your support and I promise I'll try to update soon. Thanks :)


	8. Jar of Hearts

**Not As Dumb As You Think  
>Chapter 8: Jar of Hearts<strong>

**A/N: **OH HAI, I won't guarantee anything, but my schedule has drastically loosened up for the summer, so I pledge most of my free time to this story. Posts will be inconsistent, but eh, better than none, right? Okay, so the song I used has already been used on Glee, but the only other thing I could think of was "Face Down", and I honestly could never imagine Brittany singing that. Haha, so hope you like it, and review. OH and, I'm still accepting prompts, so send that shit in!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, self injury, smut for later chapters, and possible rape.

* * *

><p>The rest of the three girls' afternoons had been spent camped out in Rachel's room. They had managed to squeeze three movies, a musical, manicures, and Glee practice into the rest of the day, and when the time had finally come for the trio to finally split and get to bed, they were exhausted to say the least.<p>

"So Berry, you know what you need to do tomorrow, right?" Santana asked through a yawn.

"Mmm, go to school?" she mumbled sleepily, as she slid into her sleep shirt. Brittany had finally left, so she had opted for short sleeves, Santana had already seen everything already so it didn't really matter, even if it did make the two girls slightly uncomfortable.

Santana snorted, and stood up, stretching her stiff legs, "Well, duh, captain obvious, I meant with Finn. You're going to dump his sorry ass, right?" It was more of a statement than a question, as if to affirm her opinion.

Rachel froze; she had managed to dodge all subjects that may pertain to her relationship with Finn. "Santana I don't see why it would be necessary, I think we still have time to develop, and maintain a healthy relationship toge-"

"Judging by your bruises, the time it took to 'fix your relationship' passed weeks ago. You're breaking up with him, even if I have to shrink five inches, wear one of your hideous owl sweaters, and do it myself."

Rachel sighed, and gently smoothed out the covers before sitting on her bed. "Santana, this really isn't your place to-"

"Let me ask you a question, Berry," she cut off abruptly, walking slowly to Rachel's side, next to the bed, "Let's just pretend for a second that Artie could use those useless things dangling from his hips, that he likes to call legs, okay?"

"O-okay?" came Rachel's unsure response.

"Good, now, let's imagine that… hmm, how do I put this nicely, let's imagine that Artie beat the fucking shit out of Brittany whenever the hell he felt like it, alright?"

"Uh-huh," Rachel squeaked in reply.

"Now tell me honestly, what would you do?"

Rachel looked at Santana in shock, before unsurely opening her mouth, "I-it wouldn't be any of my b-business, so I wouldn't d-do-"

"That's bullshit Rachel!" Santana growled in agitation, standing up off the bed. "You and I both know that if the roles were reversed, you'd have him thrown in jail in the blink of an eye. Now, I'm not going to tell you again, you're breaking up with him, whether you like it or not."

Rachel blinked back tears, and crawled under the covers, facing away from Santana.

"Berry, I know you didn't just ignore me."

No reply

"BERRY! We're not done with this yet!"

Santana could faintly make out Rachel's petite frame shaking with unshed tears. She sighed, and slowly ran her fingers through her hair in attempt to calm herself.

"Fine," she whispered in a noticeably softer voice, "You're off the hook for now, but don't think this changes anything that happens tomorrow." She exhaled deeply, before walking out of the guest room, quietly closing the door behind her.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Santana woke with a start to the familiar sound of her front door slamming shut. She groaned, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, before sitting upright. Who would be leaving now? Her parents left for work at 4:30, and it was current six o'clock. She rolled back under the covers, and lazily buried her head into the pillows.<p>

She remained motionless for a few more minutes, before her eyes shot open in realization, and she jumped out of bed, sprinting out of her room. She burst into the guest room, only to find it empty. The bed was neatly made, and all of Rachel's belongings were tidily placed on shelves, or stored in drawers. Overall, it looked fake.

Santana glared at the empty room, as if it would somehow make Rachel appear. She turned to leave, but only took two steps before freezing in place, and clenching her fists so tight, she was sure to find crescent nail marks later.

She spun around and strutted up to the nearest drawer, before yanking it open, and rifling through Rachel's belongings. After inspecting the entire contents, she carelessly shoved it closed, before moving on to the next drawer. After she had thoroughly checked all of her drawers, cabinets, and even searching through the pockets of Rachel's sweaters and argyle shirts, Santana had still come up empty handed.

She flung herself face down into the sheets, and groaned in frustration. She had to be hiding them somewhere. The one place she would least expect… Santana stood up, and quickly scanned the room. Somewhere she wouldn't normally look, somewhere obvious… Her eyes landed on Rachel's pillow. She slowly stood up, and walked to the head of the guest bed. She threw the pillow to the ground, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She removed the razor from the mattress, before replacing the pillow, and walking out of the room, with a smug smirk planted on her face.

Santana brushed her teeth, showered, changed, and was out the door within forty-five minutes.

Once she had arrived at school, she scanned the halls for a certain small brunette, but sighed in agitation when the diva was no where in sight. She hastily shoved her things in her locker, before trudging off to her first class.

Two more periods had passed, and neither Santana nor Brittany had seen any sign of Rachel, and honestly, the Latina was starting to worry a bit. She checked the diva's locker one last time, before heading off to her next class.

By the time last period had rolled around, Santana was becoming desperate. Finn's a big guy, and Rachel… well Rachel's tiny. And just look at what he's done to her already! She sighed as she shut her locker, and just as she spun around, she briefly made out a flash of argyle whipping around the corner. Santana dropped all her books on the ground, before full-on sprinting towards Rachel. She turned the corner just in time to see Rachel nervously search the hallways. The two girls made eye contact for a split second, before Rachel broke into a run. She weaved intricately through the hallway full of students, where Santana just shoved everyone to the ground.

Rachel ducked into an empty classroom, but just as the door was about to shut, Santana body slammed into it, knocking the small brunette to the ground. Santana shut, and locked the door behind her, as Rachel crawled away slowly, backing further into the dark room.

"What the fuck's your problem? Running off at 6 am and shit? Are you fucking crazy or something? What the hell were you thinking?" Santana screamed at the cowering diva.

"I-I'm s-sorry," Rachel stuttered, bringing her knees up to her chest. "I'm s-so sorry, I d-didn't mean…"

"You didn't mean to? How the fuck can you not mean to? I think you can control whether you sneak out of a fucking house or not!" the Latina yelled, slowly advancing on Rachel.

"I'm sorry," Rachel sobbed, curling into a ball, "I'm sorry, so sorry, p-please don't hit me, I didn't mean to, I swear."

Santana immediately deflated and took a step back. She gave herself a once over, before returning her stare to the terrified diva.

"Shit Rachel, I'm sorry…" she whispered quietly, quickly running to turn the lights on, before returning to the diva's side. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just-" She gently placed a hand on Rachel's shaking shoulder, but she whimpered softly and flinched away from the touch. "Fuck," she quietly scolded herself, "do you want me to get Brittany?" Rachel shook her head slowly, before pulling her legs flush against her chest. Santana let out a heavy breath, and awkwardly grabbed Rachel around the shoulders, before pulling her in for a hug. Rachel tensed, and tried to pull away at first, but after a minute or two, relaxed into Santana's embrace.

After a few minutes of an oddly comfortable silence, the two girls pulled apart, and Rachel took a deep, calming breath.

"Where did you go?" Santana asked quietly, glancing sideways at the diva.

"School," she whispered in reply.

"No, you didn't. The doors don't open till seven, where did you really go?"

Rachel swallowed thickly, before finding a great interest in her nails. "Finn's."

Santana's eyes widened as she jumped off the ground. "What?" she snapped, "You went to the bastard's house? Why in the fucking universe would you think that was a good idea?"

"You said you wanted me to break up with him…"

"Yeah, at school! Where there are witnesses!" Santana sighed, before gently helping Rachel to her feet. "You did dump him, right?"

"Not exactly," Rachel replied, her eyes downcast.

"What? Why the fuck not?" Santana asked angrily.

"Uhm, h-he didn't exactly give me a chance to t-talk." She answered solemnly.

Santana's head whipped towards Rachel in realization, and the diva's shirt was yanked up so quickly, it made Rachel's head spin. A low growl erupted from deep within Santana's throat, as brand new black and blue bruises were revealed, covering Rachel's stomach. Santana quickly dropped the hem of her shirt, before yanking up Rachel's sleeve. She gasped as four new cuts instantly came into sight. She gently ran her fingers across the gashes, marring Rachel's forearm. She pulled her hand away and winced at the blood staining fingertips. Santana grabbed Rachel's hand and angrily dragged her out of the classroom, straight to her locker.

"Okay, what's your combination," Santana growled, impatiently tapping her foot against the floor.

"Why should I tell you?" Rachel sneered in reply, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Fine, don't tell me then," Santana mumbled to herself, before turning to Rachel's locker. She spun the lock a few times, before trying the lock. The locker flew open, and Santana smirked, before starting to rifle through Rachel's things.

Rachel stared at Santana in amazement. "How did you…"

"Hey, I ain't Santana Fucking Lopez for nothing." She continued to dig through Rachel's bag, before victoriously pulling out a razor. She smirked at Rachel's paling features, before slamming the locker and pocketing the blade.

"Santana, I need that," she pleaded, catching the Latina around the shoulder, a desperate look etched into her face. Santana sighed and gently brushed off Rachel's hand, before shooting a sympathetic smile at the disheveled girl.

"Trust me Rachel, this is for the best, now let's get to Glee."

* * *

><p>When the two girls walked into the choir room together, Brittany's eyes seemingly popped out of her head. She scrambled out of her seat, and rushed over to Rachel, pulling her into a tight hug.<p>

"Rachel, your back!" she squeaked in excitement, "You scared me, I thought that maybe F-Finn," her voice cracked, and her smile immediately fell at the boy's name, "did something to you. I was really worried." She squeezed Rachel closer, and Santana noticed the diva wince in pain.

"Uhm, Britt, you might want to be a little carefully," she gently reminded the tall blonde. She immediately loosened her grip, and Rachel nodded her thanks.

"What happened to you?" the tall blonde asked, pulling away from Rachel. The brunette immediately missed the warm embrace, but quickly plastered on a smile, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"Oh, nothing, I just- I just went to… Finn's," she replied, nervously glancing up at Brittany. The blonde's eyes widened and her bottom lip began to tremble.

"D-did he… you know," she quietly asked in a shaking voice, choking back tears. Rachel took a deep breath, before nodding slowly.

Mr. Schuester chose that moment to loudly enter the choir room, clapping his hands with a broad smile placed firmly on his face. Everybody took a seat as the Spanish teacher took center room.

"Alright! Who wants to go first for this week's assignment?" Brittany's hand immediately shot in the air. Mr. Schue looked surprised, but his smile didn't falter for one second. "Okay Brittany, show us what you got, and remember guys, I want to be able to feel the pain." Brittany nodded towards Brad, and the familiar chords instantly began to echo throughout the room. Brittany closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before glancing towards Rachel and beginning to sing.

I know I can't take one more step towards you  
>'Cause all that's waiting is regret<br>And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore?  
>You lost the love I loved the most<p>

And I learned to live, half-alive  
>And now you want me one more time<p>

And who do you think you are?  
>Runnin' 'round leaving scars<br>Collecting your jar of hearts  
>And tearing love apart<p>

You're gonna catch a cold  
>From the ice inside your soul<br>So don't come back for me  
>Who do you think you are?<p>

Brittany took this moment to glare at Finn, who immediately winced backwards in surprise.

I hear you're asking all around  
>If I am anywhere to be found<br>But I have grown too strong  
>To ever fall back in your arms<p>

And I learned to live, half-alive  
>And now you want me one more time<p>

And who do you think you are?  
>Runnin' 'round leaving scars<br>Collecting your jar of hearts  
>And tearing love apart<p>

You're gonna catch a cold  
>From the ice inside your soul<br>So don't come back for me  
>Who do you think you are?<p>

Dear, it took so long just to feel alright  
>Remember how to put back the light in my eyes<br>I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed  
>Cause you broke all your promises<p>

And now you're back  
>You don't get to get me back<p>

Rachel leaned further into her chair and whimpered quietly, as she and Brittany made eye contact. The tall girl smiled at Rachel softly, as a few tears slid almost unnoticed down the brunette's cheeks.

And who do you think you are?  
>Runnin' 'round leaving scars<br>Collecting your jar of hearts  
>And tearing love apart<p>

You're gonna catch a cold  
>From the ice inside your soul<br>So don't come back for me  
>Don't come back at all<p>

And who do you think you are?  
>Runnin' 'round leaving scars<br>Collecting your jar of hearts  
>And tearing love apart<p>

You're gonna catch a cold  
>From the ice inside your soul<br>Don't come back for me  
>Don't come back at all<p>

Who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are?

As the song ended, the room broke into a quiet applause as Brittany broke eye contact. She glanced around the room, before returning her gaze to Rachel, but the small brunette had already redirected her stare towards her lap.

"Great job Brittany!" Mr. Schue praised, "That was very… emotional." Brittany nodded, before taking her seat next to Rachel. The diva immediately leaned into Brittany's side, and rested her head on her shoulder.

"Thank you," Rachel whispered softly as Brittany wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Brittany smiled before scooting the brunette closer to herself.

"No problem, Rach."

* * *

><p><strong>AN 2: **Okay, little personal story here, yesterday I was at a little corner store, and I was just leaving, but I saw this couple had lost their keys. They had left their little girl in the car, and it was like 80 degrees out. Their solution? Call the cops. Yeah, they finally ended up breaking the front window of their car. Just thought I'd share that. On another note, who here watches Glee project? I do! I really hope that either Matheus or Cameron wins :) I honestly hate Lindsay. Phony, phony, self-centered, phony. Anyway, song is "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perry, and review! OH WAIT! Just wanted to say, Quinn is a bitch FOR NOW. I might have to change that in the near future :)


	9. Bye Bye Artie

**Not As Dumb As You Think  
>Chapter 9: Bye Bye Artie<strong>

**A/N: **Hey everyone, I'm so sorry for the long wait :( I was in Hawaii for a few weeks (it's amazing by the way) and then I just had a lot of crap to do, so I apologize for the belated update. Anyway I hope you guys like it! And PLEASE review! SHOUT OUT TO MEH AWESOME REVIEWERS:

Aly Berry  
>LauraFlowi<br>Val-cb  
>Gleek1990<br>TrustInFaith  
>Tonksremus2332<br>General Mac  
>Notjustanotherperson<br>ButcWolf  
>Beaner008<br>Angelborn inhell  
>Riverkirby<p>

Oh, and just so you know, Rachel's gonna get worse before she gets better, and **vote for my poll** on my profile! Thanks!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, self injury, smut for later chapters, and possible rape.

* * *

><p>"Brittany, all I'm trying to say is our relationship isn't going to work unless you start spending more time with me."<p>

Brittany sighed as she wheeled Artie down the hall.

"Artie, I love you, but I have friends too, and right now one of my friends needs me more than you do."

"But, it's been like, three weeks since we've actually gone out on a date. And I'm beginning to think…" he trailed off, adjusting the tips of his leather gloves.

"Think what?" she questioned through an eye roll as she began to rifle through her locker.

"Are you cheating on me?"

Brittany inhaled sharply before slamming her locker shut, staring at Artie with wide eyes.

"Do you really think I would do that to you?" she asked quietly, hurt evident in her voice.

"What else am I suppose to think? You don't even hang out with me anymore; you're always off with Santana. For all I know, you could be cheating with her!"

"But it's not cheating with Santana, because, the plumbing's different…" she shook her head and returned to her locker.

"See? That's what I'm talking about! Anybody out there could easily take advantage of you and there's no way I could do anything about it. Santana's just trying to trick you into having sex with her!"

"No, she wouldn't do that, she's my best friend."

"When are you going to realize that not everybody in the world is completely innocent? God, how can you be so stupid?"

An uneasy silence fell over the couple, and Artie immediately regretted his words. Brittany's face crumpled as she took a step back.

"You were the only one in the school who hadn't called me that," the blonde whimpered, before turning away and running down the hall.

"Brittany, wait!" Artie called after her retreating form, before sighing in defeat and angrily punching a locker.

Brittany ran down the hallways on the verge of tears as the students parted for her like the red sea. She hadn't realized where she was going until she hit a solid figure and was sent sprawling to the ground.

"Fuck, I'm sorry Britt didn't see you there, you okay?" Santana knelt down to the ground beside the blonde, and offered her a hand up. She was taken in surprise when the dancer launched herself into her arms and began crying into her shoulder. "Hey, what's going on?" she asked, soothingly rubbing her back.

"Artie…" she began before breaking into a round of fresh sobs.

"It's okay, just calm down, deep breaths alright?" she comforted, pulling the blonde into an empty classroom. "What happened?" Brittany half way pulled away from Santana, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

"Artie called me stupid," the unusual amount of vulnerability present in Brittany's voice made Santana's heart shatter, and she pulled her into another hug.

"How about we just skip out on the rest of school for the day, huh?" the Latina suggested, softly stroking Brittany's back.

"But Rachel-"

"Rachel will be fine, we'll be back to pick her up, she wont even notice we're gone, okay?" Brittany sighed as Santana stood up and helped her to her feet.

"Fine."

* * *

><p>During lunch, Rachel had sat with Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, and Mike since Brittany and Santana were nowhere to be found.<p>

She had planned on not eating at first, but Mercedes had called her on her bluff, so there she was. Eating a salad. And honestly, it was disgusting. She had managed to eat half her plate, before dumping the rest and excusing herself from the table. Her classmates had dismissed her without hesitation, and she immediately headed for the bathroom.

She quickly ran to the bathroom opposite side of the school, the one she went when she was slushied. The one that was always, without a doubt, empty. She quickly entered and let her book bag fall to the floor before entering the nearest stall. She dropped to her knees and braced herself against the porcelain rim, before ridding her stomach of its contents.

* * *

><p>Quinn was mad. No, scratch that, Quinn was furious. Some idiotic freshmen had mistaken her for a certain outcast, and slushied her.<p>

Slushied _her._

Quinn Fabray had been slushied, and as soon as the freshman realized his mistake, he had nearly pissed his pants out of sheer terror. The jocks were immediately on his ass, while Quinn stood rooted to the spot.

Once the initial shock had passed, Quinn had angrily wiped the slush from her eyes, before storming to the nearest bathroom. But when she had entered said bathroom, she wasn't quite expecting to hear violent retching from one of the stalls. She took a steadying breath, before softly closing the door behind her and taking a step forward.

"Hello?" she asked quietly, "Who's there?"

Rachel immediately recognized the voice as the all-powerful HBIC and withdrew her fingers from her mouth. She hadn't finished, so her best bet would probably be to remain quiet, and wait for her to go away. Plus her stomach hurt like hell.

"Hello?" the blonde questioned again. After getting no response, she sighed, and made to walk out.

Inside the stall, Rachel sighed in relief; she could here Quinn's retreating footsteps and was quite happy she had dodged that bullet.

That was, until the unexpected wave of nausea crashed over her.

"Oh, fuck," she gasped, before leaning forward and vomiting forcefully into the bowl. But this was different, this wasn't intentional. She could feel her muscles convulsing painfully, and it tasted different, more… metallic? She groaned, and opened her eyes. A pang of fear shot straight through her stomach, before she was sent scrambling back over the bowl.

The water was turning red.

"Berry? Is that you?" _Oh shit._ "What's going on, you're not pregnant, are you?"

"Oh, god n-" the brunette choked out, before more then words were coming out of her mouth. "Go away, I'm fine," the diva groaned, resting her head on the rim and waiting for the next round of nausea to hit her.

"Fine my ass," Quinn mumbled under her breath, "Rachel, open the door."

"No, go away." She moaned, as she felt the churning in her stomach begin to calm.

"If you don't open the door in the next ten seconds, I will personally crawl under the stall." She growled in warning. Rachel couldn't help but notice the significantly less amount of venom coating the head cheerleader's voice.

Rachel took a deep breath, before forcing herself to her feet. She turned to unlock the door, but before she could process anything, the room was spinning, and her world turned black.

Quinn heard the undeniable thud of a body hit the floor from outside of the stall, and began to worry. She knocked softly on the door again.

"Last warning, I'm coming over there," the silence on the other side of the door made up her mind, and the next thing she knew, she was on her knees, crawling under the stall. She stood up, and unlocked the stall from the inside, before turning to face Rachel.

The first thing her eyes had landed on was the blood in the toilet, and the panic immediately began to set in. She kneeled besides Rachel, and carefully flipped her onto her back. She whimpered as a small trail of red tracked down the diva's lips.

"Rachel, wake up, you're starting to scare me," she softly began shaking her shoulders, and swallowed thickly before rising to her feet. She shot from the bathroom, and into the halls. "Help, somebody, help!" she yelled.

She spotted Kurt by his locker, and ran up to him in desperation. "Something's wrong with Rachel," her words were rushed, and crashed into each other. Kurt turned around and stared at Quinn in confusion. The Cheerleader didn't have time to waste, and simply grabbed his hand, dragging him to the bathroom.

"Quinn, what on Earth is going on?" He questioned as he halted in front of the lady's room. "There's no way I'm going into that bathroom, I may be gay, but I'm still a boy."

"Please Kurt; you've got to help me," she pleaded, "Rachel… I can't…" she trailed off.

Kurt picked up the urgency in her voice and sighed, reluctantly entering the bathroom, "Fine, but if Rachel's just throwing another of her diva fits, I'll personally…" he stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes trailed over Rachel's motionless body, "Holy sweet mother of GaGa."

"What do we do?" Quinn begged desperately, rushing back to Rachel's side.

Kurt closed his eyes, and took a deep breath before strutting to Rachel, and gently lifting her into his arms. He flushed the toilet with his shoe, before making a complete 180 and walking out the bathroom door.

"Let's go."

The trio walked briskly out of the school, before making a beeline for Kurt's car.

"Where do we go?" Kurt asked stoically as he strapped himself in behind the wheel.

"My house is empty," Quinn replied in a hysteric manner, "How the hell can you be so calm about this? You act like we didn't just catch her puking up blood in the bathroom?" she yelled as Kurt tightened his grip around the steering wheel.

"Trust me, I'm completely freaking out on the inside."

Quinn swallowed thickly and nodded, before turning around to glance at Rachel's unconscious body laying across the back seat. "Just step on it, would you?"

* * *

><p>"When a blonde goddess appears out of nowhere and gives you the best sex your miserable little life will ever have, you don't fucking throw it all away and hurt her!" Santana screamed over the phone. She heard a click and the beeping of a dead line over the receiver.<p>

"Hell no, fucking crip! You did not just hang up on me." She sighed in agitation and angrily flipped her phone shut. But as soon as she shut her phone, it was ringing again. 'Ladyboy' flashed across the screen and she hesitantly answered.

"What do you want?" she barked over the phone.

"Santana, as much as I know you love making my life hell, right now really isn't the time." The Latina could sense a tone of urgency in Kurt's voice and turned her bitch-level down a notch.

"Fine, what's going on?"

"You and Rachel have recently become… friends, right?"

"What the- this is what you called for? To ask about me and Rachel?" the anger returned, and Kurt flinched over the phone.

"No! Rachel's here with me at Quinn's house and she-"

"What the fuck did you do to her?" she growled in a low whisper.

"What? Nothing! Listen, we found her in the bathroom." Santana's breath caught in her throat.

"What happened?"

"We uhm, well, Quinn, found her, uhm…"

"Get on with it lady!"

"Fine, Quinn found her throwing up blood." The line went silent and Kurt nervously cleared his throat. "Santana?"

"We'll be there in five."

Santana slammed her phone shut and stormed out of the room. She found Brittany in her living room, grabbed her hand, and rushed her out the front door.

"San, what's going on?" Brittany whined as Santana shoved her in the passenger seat of the car.

"We need to go get Rachel."

"But school doesn't end for another hour."

"She's not at school." Brittany furrowed her brow and slowly turned to face Santana.

"Then where is she?"

Santana took a deep breath, "She's at Quinn's, something happened at school, and they-"

"What happened at school?"

Santana remained silent, and Brittany began to worry.

"Santana, what happened at school?" she repeated.

"She threw up," she replied nonchalantly.

"There's more, isn't there? What are you not telling me?"

"Brittany…"

"Don't 'Brittany' me! What fucking happened?" Santana swallowed thickly and slightly shrunk into the driver's seat. Brittany never swore unless she was really upset. Or in the bedroom, yeah, definitely in the bedroom. "Santana!" The Latina snapped out of her daze and risked a glance at the angry blonde.

"She puked up blood," she mumbled under her voice, returning her eyes to the road. Brittany's eyes widened and she snapped her head forward.

"Santana, go faster."

They arrived at Quinn's house in record time, and Santana immediately began pounding on the front door. Kurt opened the front door, and both girls failed to notice the confused look he shot the tall blonde.

"Where is she?" Santana immediately demanded.

"She's in Quinn's room-" both girls bolted up the stairs before Kurt even had the time to finish his sentence. They burst through Quinn's door to find said blonde sitting on her bed, next to an unconscious Rachel Berry. Brittany ran to Rachel's side and knelt beside the bed. She gently cupped Rachel's face, and stroked her cheek with the pad of her thumb.

"Hey Rae, it's me, Brittany. C'mon, please wake up. For me."

"It won't work." Quinn sighed, from the edge of the bed. "I've been trying for half an hour, she won't wake up.

"Hey, Quinn?" Santana asked from the door frame, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." Quinn opened her mouth to return with a sharp jab, but she took one more look at the fragile brunette lying under her covers, and decided against it.

"Please Rae, please wake up," Brittany begged, "When we go home, I'll bake you cookies, and we can watch Funny Girl, and everything." Brittany waited for a response, but after not receiving one, she sighed in defeat and turned to look at Santana. She was about to say something, but was interrupted with a soft groan from underneath the blankets.

"B-Brittany?" Rachel whispered in a hoarse voice. Brittany broke into a huge grin, and engulfed Rachel in a bear hug.

"You're awake." Rachel nodded into Brittany's shoulder, and the tall blonde slowly pulled away.

"My stomach hurts," Rachel muttered weakly. Brittany's smile fell and she sighed, before hoisting the diva into her arms.

"C'mon, let's get you home." Rachel nodded sleepily as Brittany walked out the door. Santana took a step to follow Brittany, but paused, and turned to face the blonde still sitting on the bed.

"Quinn, thank you for uhm, y'know, taking care of Rachel, and stuff," she said awkwardly. Quinn stared at Santana in surprise and nodded slowly.

"It was no problem; just tell her I'm here if she needs me." The now blushing Latina nodded, and quickly turned on her heels to follow Brittany and Rachel out of the house.

* * *

><p><strong>AN 2:** Hey everybody! Sorry it's kind of short, but I hope you like it :) Now Quinn and Kurt are kinda on board as well. And next chapter, I promise, more BrittBerry ;) review, and vote on my poll! Oh, and _**TIME FOR A GAME**_, I want you to be mean as possible in your reviews :) Thanks everybody.


	10. To the Doctor

**Not ****As ****Dumb ****As ****You ****Think  
>Chapter <strong>**10: ****To ****The ****Doctor**

**A/N:**Hey there guys, here's my next chapter, and I must warn you, it's short. REALLY short. And I don't feel like it's my best work... :\ Oh, and I'm not a doctor, so I apologize for any medical mistakes. And are you guys ready for some BrittBerry? *waggles eyebrows* I know I am, haha. Oh, and thanks for all the awesome reviews :D now, on with the story!

* * *

><p>Santana and Brittany had finally managed to get Rachel into bed, and the small diva had immediately curled into herself, tightly gripping the covers. Santana sighed in concern, before whipping out her phone, and starting to dial.<p>

"San," Brittany whined, "This isn't the time to be texting."

"I'm not texting, I'm calling my dad," Santana explained in an even tone. "He's a doctor."

An audible gasp emanated from beneath the covers, and Rachel quickly sat up. She instantly regretted her decision, and gritted her teeth to keep herself from wincing in pain, but Santana noticed the smaller girl's discomfort, and raised an eyebrow.

"And that's exactly why."

"I don't need a doctor," Rachel ground out between clenched teeth.

"Okay, fine." The Latina closed her phone, before seating herself on the foot of the bed. "I'll give you two choices here. One, you let me call my dad, and he can check you out privately, or two, we can take you to the hospital, and you can get checked out in front of numerous doctors, plus have them call your dads, _and_ send you to a therapist for what you're doing to yourself." Santana gave a small nod towards Rachel's arms, and the brunette sunk further into the covers, blushing softly, as Brittany furrowed her brow in slight confusion. "Now, if you think about it, it really doesn't matter since my dad works at the hospital anyways, so I'll just call him now."

"But… but…" Rachel began, but was cut off short by a wave of the hand from Santana.

"Shush Berry; it's rude to talk when people are on the phone." Rachel slumped into the bed in defeat, pulling the covers over her head.

"Papi? It's Santana." She began, as Rachel groaned loudly from underneath the covers. "I know, you're busy and I'm interrupting you during work hours, but something happened to one of my friends at school, and I need your help." Santana sighed into the phone, and ran her fingers through her hair.

"She threw up." She stated into the receiver, before rolling her eyes, and switching the phone to her other ear. "I know it doesn't seem that important, but… fine, there may have been some… blood, now will you come home?" Rachel whimpered softly, as Brittany lowered herself onto the bed, and tried to sooth the distressed brunette.

"Okay, thank you Papi; see you in ten." Santana shut her phone, and turned to the two girls laying side-by-side. "He'll be here soon." Rachel buried herself further into Brittany and shook her head.

"I don't need a doctor," she repeated quietly. Brittany sighed, and continued to rub small circles into the diva's back.

"Of course you don't," Santana mumbled quietly under her breath, before shifting positions on the bed and clearing her throat. The next ten minutes passed in an awkward silence, and when they heard the front door slam, Santana jumped off the bed and briskly walked out the door.

Brittany and Rachel could slightly overhear a brief conversation in Spanish, before a tall Latino man appeared in the door way. Rachel inhaled sharply, and slid further under the blankets, while Brittany got off the bed. She offered Mr. Lopez a soft nod and Rachel a reassuring squeeze of the hand before exiting the room.

"So I assume you're Rachel Berry? I'm Dr. Lopez, but since you're a friend of Santana's, you can call me Carlos." He quickly set his bag on the foot of the bed, and pulled out a pair of white gloves. "You don't have to explain, Santana already told me everything."

Rachel's eyes widened, and her head snapped up to meet his gaze. "E-everything?" she whispered in a hoarse voice.

He nodded his head in affirmation, "Yes, she told me all about the bulimia nervosa." She almost laughed in relief. Santana still hadn't told anyone about the cutting. "Let's take a look, shall we?" Rachel swallowed thickly, before slowly nodding her head.

* * *

><p>After waiting in the hallway for sixty long, grueling minutes, waiting for Rachel's exam to finish, Santana and Brittany were beginning to get a little restless.<p>

"I cant believe this is happening," Brittany whispered quietly, "This is my fault, I shouldn't have left her alone at school, if I would've been there none of this would've happened..." Tears sprang into deep blue eyes, as Santana softly took her hand. Santana opened her mouth to reply, but her dad quietly stepped out of the guest room, causing Brittany to jump to her feet and race to his side. She tried to form words, but all she managed to accomplish was a strained whimper as she quickly wiped away a few stray tears.

Carlos took a deep breath as he careful removed his gloves, before chancing a glance at the distraught girl.

"It's nothing too serious." Both girls simultaneously sighed in relief. "From what I can tell, her body wasn't ready for such an abrupt stop while she was vomiting; causing itself to eject anything it had left. The high amount of stomach acids caused a small tear in her esophagus, resulting in the blood, and her low blood sugar resulting in passing out. It's nothing that shouldn't heal in time. Just keep a close eye on her in the future, alright?"

Brittany nodded vigorously before glancing over the shorter man's shoulder.

"Can I see her now?" she asked quietly.

"Of course," he quickly stepped out of her way, but caught Santana by the shoulder before she could follow the dancer.

"Mi'ja, do her fathers know about this?" he whispered in a hushed tone. "I feel like I should inform them." Santana's eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head.

"Listen dad, that wouldn't be a good idea." She replied hastily, "I know she's sort of… in bad shape, but I'm gonna fix this alright? Please just trust me with this."

Carlos fixed a questioning gaze on his daughter, but finally gave in with a sigh. "Fine. But if things get too out of hand, you need to tell me, alright?"

Santana broke into a grin, and wrapped her arms around her dad. "I promise. Thank you so much Papi."

He softly patted her on the back, before she pulled away. "Now go in there and help your friend Santi."

Santana briskly nodded, before rushing into the guest room.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day had passed fairly quickly. The trio had spent their time watching mindless TV shows, movies, and not to mention musicals. No questions had been asked, and to be honest, Rachel was beyond grateful for it. It was nearing 11:30 and Rachel was exhausted to say the least. Well, she would refuse to admit it, but it was pretty obvious. Brittany had blatantly refused to leave Rachel's side for more than ten minutes. She had even attempted to follow the brunette into the bathroom at one point.<p>

Halfway through RENT, Brittany felt Rachel yawn beside her, before curling further into her side.

"Rae, you're tired. Why don't we get you into bed, huh?" Brittany pleaded for what seemed like then tenth time that night.

"Nu-uh. M'not sleepy." She mumbled, straightening herself up, and resting her head on Brittany's shoulder.

"If you weren't sleepy, you wouldn't be slurring your words." Santana softly patted Rachel's knee. "C'mon, Brittany can sleep with you in the guest room." The Latina offered, before shutting off the TV.

"Every time I go to sleep, he's always right there." She admitted quietly. "He always hurts me. I don't even know what I did wrong." The diva was close to tears, and Brittany quickly wrapped her in a warm embrace.

"It's okay sweetie." Brittany cooed softly. "I'll be right there to protect you, okay? I promise. Let's just go to bed, alright?"

Rachel took a deep breath before nodding slowly. The pair made quick work of changing and washing up, and were in bed within ten minutes. Brittany had subconsciously draped an arm around Rachel's midsection, and Rachel sighed in contentment; burrowing herself further into the embrace.

"Finn never did this," she mumbled softly, "You know, cuddled with me." The brunette felt Brittany's arms tense around her. "It's nice though. I like it."

"Finn didn't do a lot of things right," Brittany whispered in reply. "You deserve so much better than him Rachel."

Rachel's breath caught in her throat, and she turned to face Brittany. "You don't understand, no one else wants me. I'm to messed up; I'm bossy, and annoying, and self-centered, and-"

"Stop it," the tall blonde quickly cut off, "None of that's true. You're perfect, okay? Finn's a liar."

"No he's not," she whined softly, "Don't you get it Brittany? Jesse left me, Puck left me, my mom left me, my dads are never around, I have no friends, and my boyfriend hates me. How am I even close to perfect? I'm such a pathetic loser-" the brunette abruptly stopped her ramblings with a gasp, as she felt a pair of soft lips on her own. The gentle kiss rid her mind of any coherent thoughts, and she was stunned into silence as Brittany slowly pulled away.

"I wish you would stop being so mean to yourself. I think you're amazing." Brittany slowly advanced on Rachel for another kiss, but this time, Rachel met her halfway, and found herself kissing back.

Rachel couldn't help but get lost in Brittany. She was gentle, and soft, and loving. She just melted into the touch. She could actually feel the affection pouring off the other girl, unlike Finn whose "shows of affection" were always rough and calloused.

Oh god, Finn. Rachel quickly pushed herself away from the cheerleader, but she accidentally pushed herself too far, and dropped off the side of the bed.

"I c-can't do this," she stuttered as she jumped to her feet, and backed away from the bed. "Finn's gonna kill me…" her back hit the wall and she slowly slid to the floor. "He's gonna- he's gonna…"

"Rae," Brittany spoke softly, "Calm down, we're not gonna let him get to you." The dancer carefully got out of bed and approached Rachel.

"I-I gotta go," she muttered, standing up and briskly walking towards the door.

"No," Brittany swiftly grabbed her around the waist and pulled the struggling diva into her.

"Lemme go," she fought back feebly, but gave up in the end, relaxing into the warmth that was Brittany. "He'll- he's gonna…" she muttered quietly as she clung to the tall blonde's loose fitting sleep shirt.

"We're not gonna let him hurt you," Brittany softly massaged Rachel's back as she felt tense muscles begin to loosen. The two sat in a comfortable silence as labored breathing evened out and tears turned to sniffles.

"Brittany, what does this make us?" Rachel had finally asked, "I mean, was that just a one-time thing, or…"

"We can be whatever you want us to be Rach," the pair had finally made their way back into bed and were currently laying face-to-face.

"I… I really like you, but Finn…"

"Screw Finn," Brittany snorted. "This is about you and me, okay? Finn doesn't matter. And if he has a problem with this, we can just have Sanny beat him up."

"I want us to be together." Rachel whispered softly, resting her head in the crook of Brittany's shoulder.

"Good," Brittany smiled in reply, drawing Rachel in closer. "'Cause I do too."

* * *

><p>"Yo Finnocence!" Santana called across the school hallway. "Me and my girls need to talk to you."<p>

"Uhm, okay?" he replied awkwardly, glancing through the sea of students before following the three girls into the auditorium. "What's going on?"

"Finn, I have something to say," Rachel answered softly. She sighed deeply before meeting the tall boy's eyes. "I don't think we're working out."

Finn had remained silent for a good thirty seconds, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. Once realization had hit, his face had turned the shade of a tomato, and he angrily advanced forward.

"Rachel, you can't do this to us. Do you have any fucking idea how much I had to go through to get us to be together? We're Finchel! We're made for each other!" he roared, carefully punctuating the last five words.

Rachel flinched, and instinctively grabbed for Brittany. The blonde cheerleader soothingly stroked the back of Rachel's hand with her thumb.

"Finept! Calm the fuck down." The Latina growled venomously, rolling up her sleeves and taking a protective step forwards. "You're scaring her."

"Rachel, why? I thought we were the perfect couple," he whined, his boyish charm fixed firmly in place.

"We w-we're, until you…" Rachel mustered all her courage, and took a deep breath; before straightening herself up and turning to Finn. "Finn, we can't be together. I'm with Brittany now."

"What?" he growled, "So you were fucking that- that slut, behind my back? I should've known! Every girlfriend I've had has cheated on me!"

"Oh don't you even pretend to be the victim here," Santana sneered, "Now I suggest you leave before I break your face."

"Fine," he all but shouted, "But don't think this is the end of this."

"Oh, I think it is," Santana muttered under her breath as the football player stormed out the double doors. She turned to face Brittany and Rachel, and managed a half smile before jerking her head towards the exit. "I think it's about time we get to class, huh?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN2:**I'm sorry you guys. I really do mean to post more frequently, but life always seems to get in the way. Anyways, this one isn't as great as some of my other ones but hey, that's what writers block does to you, right? So I've pretty much got the whole rest of the story plotted out into about a total of 18 or so chapters. Poll's still open on my profile, so go vote! Thanks a bunch for all your support and reviews guys :) Oh, and I realized that I had anonymous reviews disabled, so I went ahead and enabled them, so KEEP THEM ROLLING! I really do appreciate it.

**QUESTIONS:**

**1. **Do you think I'm moving to fast, or do you like this pace?

**2. **I know I already asked this, but Quintana?

**3. **What should I do with Finn?

**4. **Thoughts so far?


	11. Hurt in the Worst Way

**Not As Dumb As You Think  
>Chapter 11: Hurt in the Worst Way<strong>

**A/N: **Okay, here's my new chapter, sorry about the length, and few and far in between updates. :/ Before you read, just a warning, lots of angst in this chapter, and the next few to come. Some of you might just kill me for this, and I'm sorry, but I kinda had to! Again, I'm sorry. (Runs off for cover)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, self injury, rape, smut for later chapters.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure about this Brit?" Rachel asked uncertainly as the two other girls had packed the last of her things in her bag. Brittany smiled reassuringly as she zipped up the backpack and carefully set it on the bed.<p>

"Of course Rae, my parents will be totally fine with you staying over. Plus, this way we can totally cuddle all the time." The sides of Rachel's mouth quirked into a small smile as the bubbly blonde shouldered her overflowing bag with ease. The tall blonde took Rachel's hand in her own, and gave it a quick squeeze. "C'mon, cheer up, we're gonna have a bunch of fun, it'll be like, one super long sleepover."

Rachel giggled quietly, and met the blondes comforting eyes. Santana chose this moment to clear her throat awkwardly, and the couple turned to find the Latina looking at everything besides them. She finally met Rachel's eyes, and quirked her eyebrows.

"Berry, I'm not saying I'm not gonna miss you, but let's be real, I haven't got my mack on in over a week, and with a sex drive like mine, that's almost enough to kill a bitch." If it wasn't for Santana's playful smile, Rachel would've been slightly offended, but instead she broke into a grin and hugged the slightly taller girl. "But just so you know, I'm totes gonna be staying over at least a couple times a week, just to, y'know, check up on you guys."

"Thank you Santana," Rachel whispered sincerely, "Really, for everything."

"Hey, don't mention it, no one messes with my girls and gets away with it. Now, are you ready to move all your shit over to Britt's house?" Rachel nodded enthusiastically, lifting the remainder of her bags off the floor.

It hadn't taken very long to move all of Rachel's things into Brittany's room. The blonde had cleared extra space in her closet and dresser just for the diva.

Once Santana had made sure everything was handled, and finally left, Brittany had kept her promise and the couple had spent a good majority of the day cuddling. Overall, Rachel seemed fairly happy.

That was, until she had received an unexpected phone call.

The pair had been relaxing on the sofa, half asleep, when Rachel's phone had violently jumped to life. The starlet groaned and reluctantly tore herself from Brittany's grip as she answered.

"Hello?" she mumbled quietly at Brittany stirred beside her.

"_Rach, sweetie? It's dad and daddy."_

"Dad?" Rachel immediately perked up, a large grin spread over her features. "How's your cruise going? Are you having fun? Are you taking plenty of pictures?"

Rachel heard her daddy's melodic laugh travel through the receiver, and her smile widened.

"_Of course we are honey, but that's not what we called for. We have some great news!"_

"Really? What is it?" Rachel bounced on the sofa in excitement.

"_We were able to book a five-star hotel in the Bahamas, top floor at that! It cost us a fortune, but I heard the food here's exquisite! We're extending our vacation a month. You don't mind, do you sweetie?"_

Brittany felt her girlfriend tense next to her, and the mood in the room instantly shift. She sat up and began to trace soft circles into the shorter girl's lower back.

"Of course not," Rachel had uttered in feigned excitement. "That sounds absolutely exhilarating."

"_Oh, __I __just __knew __you__'__d __understand __Rach,__" _her dad squealed in anticipation, _"__Well, __it __was __great __talking __to __you __hun, __but __me __and __daddy __have __appointments __at __the __spa __in __half __an __hour.__" _He laughed. _"__You __know __I __can __never __deny __your __dad__'__s __puppy __dog __eyes. __Love __you __Rach!__"_ And with that, the line went dead.

"Love you too." Rachel whispered quietly, before slowly ending the call.

A silence had filled the room for the next few minutes, as Brittany had continued drawing lazy shapes into Rachel's skin.

Brittany cleared her throat to break the silence before resting her head on the brunette's shoulder.

"Baby, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Rachel answered robotically.

"Rachel…" The blonde pleaded softly.

"I'm fine." She repeated. She stood up and headed for Brittany's room. "I need get started on my homework." She excused herself lamely. Brittany groaned inwardly as she disappeared around the corner.

* * *

><p>As soon as Rachel was out of Brittany's line of sight, she broke into a light sprint. She headed straight for their shared bedroom, and immediately began to dig through her backpack. As time passed, her frustration grew, until she finally had found what she was looking for.<p>

A little black ring box.

She threw her bag to the floor, before sprinting to the nearest bathroom. She slammed the door behind her, sitting on the closed toilet seat and carefully opening the box. She removed the razor with shaking hands, setting the container on the sink and slowly rolling up her left sleeve.

She took a deep breath before slowly dragging the sharp blade through her soft skin, careful not to hit any old cuts or scars. She exhaled sharply as the calm washed over, and she relaxed for a moment before repeating the process. She closed her eyes as a soft smile graced her lips. She leaned back as everything bad in her life had seemingly disappeared. But, her moment of euphoria was quickly shattered at a quiet knock on the bathroom door.

"Rach, you in there?"

Rachel had to think fast. She wasn't ready for Brittany to find out about her nasty habit, she had just got the blonde and she didn't want to drive her away. She frantically scanned the bathroom and instinctively grabbed a handful of tissues, and began to wipe at her arm.

She glanced up at the door just in time to see the doorknob slowly turning. Shit, she had forgotten to lock the door behind her. The brunette panicked, and tilted her head back, holding the now bloodied tissues up to her nose.

"Rae, are you…"

"I'm fine," she answered automatically. "I just… bloody nose, that's all."

Brittany gasped at the unexpectedly large amount of blood absorbed in the tissues, taking a step closer.

"Do you need help? I can-"

"No no, that won't be necessary; I've handled plenty of bloody noses before."

"Are you sure?" the blonde asked in concern, "I've never seen that much bl-"

"Oh no, I'm sure, this is completely normal for me," Rachel winced, going unnoticed to Brittany; she hated lying to her girlfriend, "stress, you know?"

"I-I guess…" Brittany slowly answered in defeat, "Do you want some privacy?"

"Yes please," Rachel winced again, she didn't want to turn away Brittany, but she certainly couldn't tell her the truth.

Brittany reluctantly retreated from the bathroom. She paused in the doorway, turning to face Rachel, her eyes downcast, one last time.

"Just, uh, hurry up and clean up. Santana will be over in thirty." She exited the room, firmly closing and locking the door behind her. Once the blond had gone, Rachel sighed in relief.

She lowered her arms, and rolled down her sleeve to inspect the damage, hissing in pain as dried blood clung to the fabric of her hoodie.

She whimpered softly as several angry, bright red gashes met her eyes.

This was the part she hated.

The guilt.

The reality of what she was doing to herself.

She knew this wasn't normal, and nowhere near healthy, but this was her dirty little secret.

Her addiction.

And she knew she couldn't make this go away overnight. She knew she would eventually have to tell Brittany, to get help, but that could wait. Right now, this was the only thing she could rely on one-hundred percent. And she was going to cling to it as long as she could.

* * *

><p>"So what should we eat?" Santana asked, phone in hand, as the trio plopped onto the sofa. "We could order from that Tai place down the road, but I'm not sure if they have any vegan selections…"<p>

"Oh no, it's fine, you guys can order whatever you like." Rachel answered nonchalantly, flipping through the channels on the oversized flat screen.

"Rae, we need to order something you can eat too, what do you want?"

"No, really, it's okay." Rachel turned to the blonde, and laid her head on her well-toned shoulder. "I've long since abandoned my vegan lifestyle choice."

"Oh really?" Santana asked with a quirked eyebrow. "And when did this happen?"

"Well, you see," Rachel muttered, suddenly taking great interest in her nails. "F-Finn," she choked on the boy's name, "got sort of mad because I wouldn't eat or cook any of the foods he liked." Brittany grimaced, and the two cheerleaders exchanged glances.

"Are you sure sweetie?" Brittany softly shook her shoulders in reassurance, "You know we don't have a problem with ordering something special."

"Yeah, I'm sure," the diva replied, brushing off the blonde's concern, returning to surfing the channels. "Just order whatever you like."

Santana grumbled in annoyance, before quickly placing their orders, before settling on the couch next to Brittany.

The food had arrived within forty minutes, and within another ten, Santana and Brittany had convinced Rachel to eat. So far, the girls were having a great time pigging out, and watching mindless television.

Once they had stuffed themselves full, they had sprawled themselves across the carpet, staring up at the LCD TV screen. Rachel herself hadn't necessarily been paying attention to the dribble on television; she had been too lost in her own thoughts.

Specifically, thoughts about her life; thoughts about Finn, thoughts about Santana and Brittany, thoughts about their strange sudden friendship, thoughts about her eating disorders, her self mutilation, her fathers, Quinn and Kurt, school, Glee, the list seemingly never ended.

Her head was swirling with thoughts, and to be honest, she just wanted them all to shut up.

She groaned and turned to her side, burying herself into Brittany.

"You okay?" the tall blonde had asked almost instantly, threading her fingers through brunette hair.

"Mmm, head hurts," she mumbled quietly. Brittany began to softly massage the shorter girl's back in comfort.

"Is it bad? I can get you an aspirin." Rachel shook her head, relaxing into Brittany's warmth.

"Just stress." She answered shortly.

"Stress? You're not gonna have another nosebleed, are you?"

Rachel tensed at this, cautiously turning to Santana to gage her reaction.

"Nosebleed?" The Latina immediately questioned, "What nosebleed?"

Rachel opened her mouth to answer, but Brittany had already beat her to it.

"Right before you got here, Rachel had this massive nosebleed. It was so weird, you should've seen it. There was a lot more blood than normal."

Santana nodded unconvincingly at this, shooting the diva a questioning stare. Rachel smiled weakly, and hid her face in the side of Brittany's neck.

"It was nothing," her voice was muffled by Brittany skin, "It was probably just high blood pressure."

"Uh-huh…" Santana turned her attention back to the TV set. "We'll take about this 'high blood pressure' thing later. My dad **is** a doctor."

Rachel groaned internally.

* * *

><p>Brittany was currently laying her king sized bed, wide awake. Alone. Rachel had left at around 9 pm, she had went back to her house to pick up some more clothes for school, and Brittany figured the diva would be fine.<p>

But it was now nearing 12 am, and honestly, Brittany had started worrying two hours ago. At this point, it wasn't even worry anymore; it was nearing the state of panic.

She turned to her side, and debated on whether she should call Santana, or get out of bed and drive to the diva's house. She sat up in her bed, and made to turn on the lights, but her hand paused mid air, as she heard the front door open and shut. She breathed in relief before settling herself under the blankets, waiting for the brunette to join her in bed.

Brittany heard rushed footsteps up the stars and down the hall, before her bedroom door flew open, and roughly shutting behind the dark figure. Ragged breathing echoed in the otherwise silent room, and the blonde sat up in confusion.

"Rae?"

The brunette had shakily climbed into bed besides the cheerleader, clothes and all, and began to tug at the taller girl's clothes.

"Britt, I need you," she whispered hoarsely. She tried to pull the sleep shirt over the blonde's head, but a gently yet firm hand had stopped her own.

"Rach, what's going on? What're you doing?"

"I-I need you, please Brit," the singer's voice trembled, as she tried again to remove the other girl's clothing. "I-I'm so sorry, please, you have to believe me, I-I didn't... I didn't m-mean to… h-he…"

"Wait," Brittany firmly cut her off, and the pieces began to click together. "You had sex? With someone else?"

"P-please forgive me, I-I didn't even like it, he-"

Brittany scrunched her eyes close, trying to control the anger that had suddenly began to broil.

"Let me get this straight, we haven't even been together for one day," she turned on the light at her bedside, and scrunched her eyes shut in disappointment, "and you already…" her voice trailed off as she opened her eyes, and was met with heartbreaking vision of Rachel's horribly beaten and scratched face. Her eyes trailed down the small girl's body, and gasped when she found her previously perfect outfit, ripped, and loosely hanging from the brunette's limbs.

"It… it hurt so bad…" Rachel choked out, before completely breaking into tears.

It seemed as if all the air had rushed out Brittany's lungs as she scrambled to engulf her girlfriend in a bear hug. Her thoughts were jumbled and incoherent, and all she was able to mutter was an unintelligible "Oh… my, god."

* * *

><p>… I know you all will probably hate me for this, and I'm sorry D: I'm just a dark person like that.<p>

**QUESTIONS:**  
>1. Quintana?<br>2. Should Brittany find out about the cutting sooner, or later?  
>3. What's your favorite Pokémon?<p> 


	12. Blown Cover

**Not As Dumb As You Think  
>Chapter 12: Blown Cover<strong>

**A/N: **Okay, here's the next chapter, I can't apologize enough for being so late, there's no excuse :/ if I take this long again, don't hesitate to be a little mean. And I shall update my other story soon! Oh, and there IS a rape scene this chapter, if you'd rather not read that part, you can just skip to after the first chunk. Okay, so on to the story!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee in any way, shape or form.

**Warning:** Abuse, self injury, rape, smut for later chapters.

* * *

><p>~<strong>Earlier that night<strong>~

Rachel fumbled with her keys as she tried to get in, and out of her house as fast as she possibly could. Once she had triumphantly opened the door, she ran inside and sprinted up the staircase.

The ominous, lumbering figure sprawled across the couch went completely unnoticed.

The singer rushed into her room, carelessly tossing the essentials into her bag, before taking off back down the stairs. She had barely opened the door just a crack, before it was forced shut again, and a calloused hand carelessly grabbed her by the collar, jerking her backwards.

Before she was able to process, a shriek had left her mouth, only to be quickly muffled by a blow to the face.

"I've been waiting for you, Rachel," Finn snarled, as he shoved Rachel backwards. The brunette whimpered as her spine hit a wall, and she fell to the floor.

"I knew you'd be coming back, so I've been here, waiting." He roughly pulled her up again, before putting her back down with an elbow to the stomach.

"It seems like you forgot, I'm the one in charge here. You'd be nothing without me." Finn literally ripped Rachel's shirt from her body, resulting in a loud gasp, and pained cry.

"You thought I was just gonna sit around and watch that slut take your virginity? That belongs to me, it always has." Within seconds, Rachel's bra was on the floor next to her shirt, and Finn was carelessly pawing her breasts. He pulled her in for a harsh kiss, all teeth and no mercy. Rachel helplessly tried to escape, but Finn just held her tighter, smirking at her darkly.

"You don't have to panic, Rach. I'm just taking what's mine." Rachel took a deep breath, before releasing an ear-splitting scream.

To say Finn was unamused would be an understatement.

He stuffed the fabric of his sleeve into her open mouth, before backhanding her across the cheek.

"You wanna do this the hard way, then? Alright, fine by me." He growled venomously, yanking Rachel pants down around her ankles, before removing his own. "I was going to be gentle, but if this is how you're gonna thank me, might as well give it to you hard."

Rachel whimpered, and let her head fall against the wall with an audible thunk. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the inevitable pain. She was shaking visibly, her nails digging into the skin of her palm.

Maybe if she didn't think about it, it wouldn't hurt as much. Think happy thoughts, she needed to relax, and think happy thoughts. Brittany, she needed to think about Brittany.

But when white hot pain shot through her core, all the thought of relaxing flew out the window.

This had to be the worst of it though, right? He had broken her hymen.

But she soon realized she couldn't have been any more wrong. Finn slowly pulled out, before slamming back into Rachel with a loud grunt.

Rachel slammed her head against the wall behind her, biting her cheek so hard, she could soon taste the familiar metallic taste of blood on her tongue. It felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside, like her center was on fire.

And at that very moment in time, Rachel Berry had accepted that she was going to die. In fact right now, dying seemed more like a luxury then a punishment.

"You deserve this, bitch." Finn panted between thrusts, "I've been nothing but an amazing boyfriend, and you just had to go and fuck it all up." Rachel groaned in severe pain as Finn's thrusts got impossibly faster. "No one will ever love you like I did; you're too ugly, useless, talentless, and annoying. No one likes you."

Blood trickled down trembling legs, staining the carpet, and Rachel wasn't sure if the pain was beginning to subside, or if she was just getting use to it.

"P-please," Rachel whispered hopelessly, "Please st-stop, it hurts, s-so b-bad…"

"Oh, you think I'm gonna stop?" Finn barked laughter, "And give up on a chance like this? I don't think so."

It had only taken a few more agonizingly painful thrusts before Finn had emptied himself inside the brunette, before completely pulling out.

Rachel instantly curled into herself and fell to the ground as Finn stepped backwards, a satisfied smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

"You see? That wasn't so bad, now was it, Rach? I'll leave you to get all cleaned up, so you can run back to your brainless bitch. But trust me. This isn't over." He smirked before tucking himself back into his pants, and leaving the house as if nothing even happened.

Rachel wasn't sure how long she had been lying on the floor, all she knew was that it hurt every time she tried to move, and that maybe, if she just stayed down for a little while longer, she'd wake up and this would all turn out to be just another nightmare.

* * *

><p>~<strong>Present<strong>~

Brittany was still at a complete and utter loss for words; she held the brunette close as she continued to sob violently, repetitively choking out words like "sorry" and "my fault" between gasps for air. She wasn't a hundred percent sure what happened, but she could take a pretty accurate guess, and all she could think was Finn Hudson had better protect his manhood the next time she sets eyes on him.

"Rae?" Brittany whispered hoarsely, "Rae, you're okay now, everything's gonna be alright, I got you, I'm not gonna let you go." This just succeeded in making the shorter girl cry harder, as she desperately clung to her girlfriend. "I'm sorry," Brittany continued, "So sorry, for just thinking you… I… I…" This was all it took for tears of her own to start streaming down her cheeks. "It's okay, it's alright, I'm right here."

The couple remained crying on the bed, unmoving for what seemed like hours. And after a while, the full gravity of the situation dawned on Brittany, and she stiffened, pulling away from Rachel.

"Rae, we need to get you to a hospital."

If the atmosphere wasn't so heavy at the moment, Brittany would've laughed at how comically wide Rachel's eyes opened, before violently shaking her head.

"No!" she squeaked loudly, slowly retreating from Brittany, falling off the side of the bed. No no no no no no no no no! We – you – I can't! He – he'll find out, he'll come back, he'll – he'll…"

"Rae," Brittany called softly. The brunette, completely oblivious, continued to babble incoherently. "Rachel!" she gently picked the diva up off the floor, and held her close, effectively quieting her down. "We'll call Santana, okay? Her – her dad'll help us, he won't tell anyone, okay?"

Rachel took a deep, shuddery breath before nodding unsurely.

"A-alright, you p-promise?"

The insecurity evident in Rachel's voice ripped Brittany's heart in two, and she tightened her hold around the broken girl.

"Yeah, I promise."

Not even taking into consideration of how late at night it was, Brittany quickly grabbed her phone and punched in the familiar number, as Rachel curled into herself on the bed.

After calling four times, Santana finally picked up the phone, and Brittany was met with an irritated, unwelcome voice from the other end.

"This had better be pretty damn good," the Latina grumbled sleepily through the line.

"It's Rachel." Brittany muttered shakily.

Santana had never been out of bed and dressed faster in her life.

"I'll be there in ten," she replied quickly, she was about to hang up, when Brittany suddenly called her name through the receiver. "What?" she answered irritably as she ran down the stairs.

"You need to bring your dad."

This affectively stopped Santana in her tracks.

"How bad is it?" she breathed quietly.

"San, it's really bad."

That was all Santana needed to hear. She ended the call and raced back up the stairs, loudly bursting into her sleeping father's room.

* * *

><p>Santana and her dad arrived within half an hour, fully equipped with your commonly held medical gear.<p>

Rachel had barely moved an inch since her major break down, and blatantly refused to say a word to anyone.

Carlos entered the room quietly, and gently sat on the bed beside Rachel.

"Sweetie?" he asked quietly, "Can you tell us what happened?"

Rachel's shake of head was barely noticeable, as she sniffled and buried herself even further beneath the covers.

He sighed, and softly patted her shoulder; but quickly retracted as she whimpered, and pulled away.

"Alright Rachel, can you sit up for me?"

The brunette, took a deep breath, and wiped her eyes one last time, before pushing herself up on quivering arms.

Santana and her father gasped in unison at the bruising and scratches visible on her face.

"Tana, give me your phone."

The Latina handed it over to the older man, no questions asked, as he slowly stood up, and kneeled in front of the broken girl.

"Rachel? I'm just going to take a few pictures, okay? In case we need them later."

"Please don't get him in trouble," Rachel whispered hoarsely. "It's not his fault, I- he- I deserved it."

Everybody's jaw dropped in awe as Rachel's face crumpled yet again, and she buried herself into her knees, sobbing openly.

Santana gently sat on the bed beside Rachel and took a shaking hand in her own.

"Rachel, what Finn did to you? No one deserves that, okay? No one. Especially not you." The Latina explained carefully.

"But F-Finn said…"

"I don't give a shit about what Finn said!" she snapped, before taking a deep breath, "Finn's a dumbass, he's a liar and a manipulator. He thinks he can get whatever he wants, just because he's 'popular.' Trust me when I say you're way better off with Brittany."

"It h-hurts. Really b-bad."

Santana sighed, and gave the brunette's hand a gently squeeze, "Finn's a dick."

"N-no, I mean, it h-hurts, really b-bad. E-everything h-hurts."

Santana's eyes widened in panic, and she jumped off the bed.

"Shit! Papi-"

"I'm going to need you to lay down for me, alright?" Carlos pulled on a pair of white gloves, and kneeled beside the bed.

Rachel obediently let herself fall backwards on the bed, as Brittany softly took her hand.

"Okay hun, now I'm slowly going to remove your shirt, alright? Just to check your injuries."

"W-wait…" the brunette stuttered slowly, "I-I don't know- I… I…"

"It's okay Rachel, if you get uncomfortable at any time, we can stop and take a break, okay?" the older man reassured gently, "Now just relax."

He slowly reached for the hem of Rachel's severely torn shirt, and at this moment, Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, and desperately grabbed for Brittany.

As he slowly pushed it up, Rachel released a small whimpered, and inhaled sharply.

And just as he had reached the belly button, Rachel lost it. Her breathing came in short gasps, and she began shaking her head violently.

"S-st-STOP!" she shouted in a hoarse voice, "I c-can't…"

Carlos immediately tugged Rachel's shirt down, and lifted his hands in defense.

"Alright, uhm, hun, this can't go unchecked. I can take you to a hospital, but…"

"No! No hospitals! I…" tears began to fall down familiar tracks, "I-I just want it t-to stop h-hurting."

Carlos sighed, and ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"Brittany, do you think you could-"

"No!" she replied quickly, "I-I couldn't, I'd throw up, o-or pass out, I- I'm sorry." She looked down guiltily, and sympathetically squeezed Rachel's hand.

Santana groaned loudly, and massaged her temples with her fingertips, "fuck, this shit isn't what bitches do. Alright. I'll do it, everyone get out."

Brittany's eyes widened and she tightened her grip on Rachel's trembling hand. "N-no! I wanna stay, I need to be here."

"Nope, no way, if I'm going to do this thing, we're doing it my way. Now please, just leave for a couple minutes, for Rachel." Santana pleaded softly.

"F-fine, but be fast okay?"

Santana nodded quickly and watched Brittany and her father leave.

She turned back to Rachel, and her eyes softened as the diva nervously tugged the bottom of her hoodie further down.

"You ready?"

Rachel shook her head violently, and wrapped her arms around herself. Santana sighed.

"I promise I'll be fast, okay? We need to do this Rachel. It's important."

"San, I can't." Rachel whined softly, subconsciously pulling at her sleeves, "I-I'm scared."

"Rach, I don't want to do this anymore than you do, but the sooner we start, the faster it's over. So c'mon hun, take off your clothes for me."

She took one last shaky breath, before lowering her head in defeat and slowly removing her top. Santana was unable to stifle her gasp of surprise at the bruises that were beginning to form along the smaller girl's ribcage, accompanied by extensive scratching. Santana cleared her throat and softly met Rachel's gaze.

"Take off the rest of your clothes," she whispered in a shaky voice.

Rachel reluctantly shed herself her bra and jeans, and drooped her head in shame.

"Oh sweetie…" Santana choked out, the injuries were bad. Worse then she thought they were gonna be. "Can you… can you spread your legs for me?"

Rachel whimpered, but did as she was told.

Blood had coated Rachel's inner thighs; the short girl was visibly trembling.

Santana, in turn, began to gently stroke the back of Rachel's hand with her thumb.

"Hey hey, calm down, alright? I'm not gonna hurt you." Rachel nodded jerkily, and took a steadying breath. "I'm gonna pull down your panties, okay? I'm not gonna touch you though, I promise." Rachel, again, nodded jerkily.

Santana gently hooked her fingers around the waistband of her underwear, and slowly pulled them to her knees. Bile immediately rose to her throat, and she swallowed harshly to keep herself from vomiting.

"Ay dios mio, Rachel…" she took a sharp intake of breath, "This is… this is the first time he… he hurt you this way, right?" the Latina asked softly.

Again, Rachel nodded, before shifting uncomfortably.

"Are… are you finished yet? I want Brittany."

"Yeah," Santana breathed dryly, pulling the sheets over the tiny singer's body. "I'll go get them."

* * *

><p>Santana had done everything in her power to make Rachel as comfortable as possible that night. Brittany was made to go to Michigan for the weekend for a dance competition, leaving Santana to take care of Rachel for a little.<p>

"Alright Rachel, you know where everything is, if you need anything, come and get me, okay?" Santana finished making up the guest bed and turned to face the shorter girl, "I'm serious, I don't care what time it is."

Rachel nodded, before glancing around the room.

"Thank you, Santana." She replied softly, "For… for back at Brittany's house…"

"Hey, don't mention it. You were scared, and I guess I just helped you be less scared…" The Latina softly patted the diva on the shoulder, "but seriously, don't mention it. Ever."

Santana and Rachel had spent a large portion of the night just talking, before the duo had decided to head to bed.

"Do you want me to stay in here with you?" Santana chewed her lower lip, "I don't wanna leave you alone…"

"I'll be fine, San," Rachel said in a monotone voice, she turned to look at the Latina, "I think I can handle being alone for one night."

Honestly, Rachel's eyes scared her. It wasn't that the shorter girl was giving her a particular stare or anything, just the way they looked.

Cold.

Dead.

Lifeless.

As if she had just given up on living, and it scared the shit out of her.

"Are you su-"

"Go to bed, Santana."

She sighed, and slowly exited the room.

"Goodnight Rach."

Later that night, Santana jerked awake to the sound of the inevitable, the very familiar scream of one Rachel Berry.

Santana immediately jumped out of her bed, and made a dash for the guest bedroom. She skidded to a stop beside the guest bed, and cursed quietly under her breath.

She placed a hand on a trembling shoulder and shook gently.

"Rach…?"

Rachel's shoulder was covered in sweat, hot to the touch. The girl was shaking violently underneath the covers, writhing, her face contorted in pain. The small girl was near hysterics, crying out in pain. Santana sighed and kneeled besides the bed.

"Hun? Please wake up." Santana tried again to jerk Rachel into consciousness, but to no avail. "Shit…" the Latina swore under her breath. She lifted the covers to try and shake the small girl awake, only to discover that the covers were soaked through.

Santana swallowed thickly, before taking a firm grip to the diva's shoulder and shook more forcefully.

"C'mon, it's just a dream sweetie, get up."

Santana sighed in relief as the girl beside her tensed, slowly opening teary eyes and taking in the room surrounding her. Rachel's bottom lip trembled as she fearfully glanced up at Santana.

"Oh no Rach, don't cry, everything's fine, it's just you and me here," she took the smaller girls hand in her own, "are you alright?"

Rachel shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut, and sliding further into the sheets.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Santana asked genuinely.

Again, Rachel shook her head, sniffling, and burying her face into the covers. Santana patted the starlet's shoulder gently.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up, and I'll change the sheets, okay? We can see how you're feeling after."

Rachel nodded, and wordlessly sat up, her hair acting like a shield and hiding her tear streaked face.

Santana sighed as Rachel slowly walked to the bathroom, "Ay dios mio," she mumbled under her breath. She quickly pulled out her phone and checked the time, 2:53 AM. She groaned, before tapping out a quick text.

**Rachel isn't doing too good… -S  
><strong>_2:53AM Mon, Jan 30_

**Wat hapned? –B  
><strong>_2:55AM Mon, Jan 30_

**Nightmare –S  
><strong>_2:55AM Mon, Jan 30_

**San I cant come home, my parnts wont let me. –B  
><strong>_2:56AM Mon, Jan 30_

**I know, I got this –S  
><strong>_2:56AM Mon, Jan 30_

She quickly got to work switching out the bed sheets, and laying out a new set of pajamas for Rachel.

She slowly entered the now quiet bathroom to find Rachel sitting on the closed toilet lid, shivering, a thin towel tightly wrapped around her slender form.

"Rachel? C'mon, let's go back to bed."

The singer slowly met the Latina's eyes, before shaking her head, and returning her stare to the floor. "I'm sorry-"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there," the Latina boldly cut off, "Don't apologize, you've been through a shit load of hell the past few days, it's not your fault."

"But I-"

"Nope, I don't wanna hear it, now let's get you dressed and back to sleep, okay?"

Rachel sighed, but nodded, and with the help of Santana was lying between clean covers within ten minutes.

"Are you okay?" Santana asked sincerely, taking a knee besides the bed.

"Yeah, I just… it was… it was so real…"

"You're alright now sweetie, you're safe here."

Rachel took a shaky breath, and let a small, unsure smile grace her features.

"Thank you."

"Anytime, just yell if you need anything, I'm just down the hall." She stood up and brushed off her knees, before making for the door.

"Wait, San!" Rachel instinctively called out.

"Huh?" she replied in surprise.

"Can… can you stay with me? Please? Just for tonight. I… I'm so scared…"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Scoot over."

There was almost instant warmth at her side, and Rachel allowed herself to relax. She took comfort in Santana, and let her head rest on the other girl's chest. She didn't feel as safe and at peace as she did with Brittany, but she still appreciated security it gave.

She soon slipped into a dreamless sleep, thoughts of Brittany, and the steady rise and fall of Santana's chest lulling her into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>It had been about a week since Rachel's attack, and the brunette seemed to be pulling more and more into herself. Brittany had returned from her dance competition, but Rachel still hadn't shown any signs of progress. To be honest, Rachel hadn't really been showing any real emotion since 'that night' as Santana had so kindly dubbed it.<p>

It seemed as if she was getting skinnier each day, and she kept conversations with Santana as short as she could, as if avoiding questions being asked, she was even pulling, slowly but surely, away from Brittany.

And both cheerleaders were at a loss.

Nightmares were getting more frequent, resulting in almost constant exhaustion. And within the last few days, the brunette had been caught throwing up her food three times already. Her grades were slipping, and even with the warming weather, she couldn't be caught dead in anything but long sleeves.

It didn't help that Rachel blatantly refused to go to an adult, and Finn shared a total of two classes with her. Resulting in random panic attacks throughout the day. All in all, they had only managed to make it through one full day of school that week.

The trio had just left school early again, for the third day in a row, and were huddled onto the couch watching mind numbing TV.

All three girls were exhausted. Rachel from the nightmares, Brittany from comforting Rachel all day and night, and Santana from doing everything in her power to help the small singer.

All was going almost exactly as it had for the past few days, until they heard a soft knock from the door. At first, no one had moved, completely ignoring the sound of fist on wood; until it came a second time, louder.

Santana grumbled under her breath, and reluctantly stood up; she crossed the room with crossed arms before jerking the door open.

On the other side of the doorway stood Quinn and Kurt, awkwardly looking downwards with tense half-smiles.

"H-hello Santana," Kurt squeaked, breaking the silence from underneath Santana's harsh stare. "We came to see Rachel?"

"You came to see Rachel? Well that sounded more like a question to me, and the answer is no. Goodbye!"

She shut the door, only to find itself being thrown back open by a pale hand.

"Santana, I've waited long enough." Quinn commanded icily. "I want to know what's going on, I want to know what the hell is wrong with Rachel, I want to know exactly what happened in the bathroom last week, and I want to know now. And don't you dare tell me now's not the time, again! I'm not leaving until I get an explanation."

Quinn's heated glare would have burnt metal, and Santana immediately refocused her gaze upon Brittany and Rachel, who we're intently watching the scene from the couch.

After exchanging many glances with Brittany, she finally acquiesced, and opened the door. "Get your asses inside before I change my mind," she mumbled in defeat.

"Rachel!" Kurt exclaimed, running to his fellow diva's side and pulling her in for a side hug, "Girl, where on earth have you been? I've been looking for you all over school, but I could never find you anywhere! Let's go! Upstairs! We need some girl time." He had literally dragged Rachel behind him, out of the room and up the stairs.

Leaving the three cheerios.

They sat in an awkward, tense silence for a few minutes, Quinn staring questioningly at Santana and Brittany.

"Alright. What is it? What's going on with-"

"She's bulimic."

And with that, Quinn had been effectively silenced.

Santana worried her bottom lip between her teeth before slowly continuing.

"She's broken, Q. She's so fucking broken. I don't know what to do; Brittany doesn't know what to do. You don't understand, she's… she's destroying herself…"

"Please talk to her." Brittany's voice was quiet, laced with desperation and pure exhaustion, so unlike the usual bubbliness and extra bounce that had always been present. "Please Quinn, I'm so scared, she… she might listen to you. You… you have experience. Just a little talk…

"I don't know B…" there was a steady lump rising in Quinn's throat, and a slight hoarseness to accompany it. "I- I wouldn't know what to say, I don't think I could-"

"Please Q, please talk to her. It's so bad, you're not here everyday, you haven't caught her throwing up dinner, or seen the panic attacks, o-or heard the nightmares. She's so closed off, hell, she barely even talks. So please, please please please, I'm begging you, and you know me, I never beg. You- you probably understand more than we do, we're so completely lost. Please, just-"

Quinn shut her eyes, and slowly began massaging her temples. "Fine. I'll talk to her. But… you… you owe me one. You owe me one big time."

Brittany had steady streams of tears down each cheek, but had managed a watery chuckle. "Th-thank you…"

"This is gonna be different though…" Quinn continued. "I… was never that bad…" the shorter blonde grimaced, and swallowed thickly, "What- what drove her to all this in the first place?"

There was a long silence as Brittany and Santana stared at each other, silently exchanging a few thoughts, before Santana sighed deeply.

"That… is a long story."

"I've got the time." Quinn sat back onto the coach, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow to perfection. "If I'm gonna talk, I wanna know."

"Just… don't over react… okay? Rachel couldn't handle that right now."

"Santana, please. Just tell me what happened."

"Fuck, why do I always get stuck doing this shit…" Santana muttered under her breath. "Alright, I'm gonna be blunt. Long story short, Rachel was severely beaten and raped, and her parents are dicks who don't like to stick around. Got it?"

Once again, Quinn was stunned into silence.

"Wh-why haven't you gone to the police yet?" Quinn's voice was dry, monotoned, as she glared at Santana in anger. Her voice steadily rose as she sniffled, and she stood from the couch. "Why the hell haven't you told someone?"

"Do you honestly think that'd be the best thing to do right now?" Santana quickly rose to her feet, voice matching Quinn's in volume. "She's barely dealing- no, scratch that- she's NOT dealing with what's happened so far, do you seriously think bringing in the police will help? She won't even talk to us; how the fuck do you think she'd handle talking to three or four policeman?"

"We… you… there has to be _something_ we can do! We can't just sit around and do nothing!"

"Quinn, I can promise you we aren't doing nothing," Santana growled protectively, "Me and Brittany have been working our asses off for the last couple of weeks, so don't you dare sit there and tell us we're doing nothing!"

"Well it's obviously not working," the shorter blonde scoffed, "What about therapy?"

"She won't go," Santana scowled, sitting on the couch and burying her head in her hands, "I… I don't know what to do…" the Latina's voice sounded fragile as she released a shaky breath.

And Quinn sat stunned. She had never seen Santana this vulnerable before. And over a girl she supposedly hated. She shifted her gaze towards Brittany, who was curled into a ball, slowly rocking back and forth, before returning to Santana.

She took a deep breath before quietly maneuvering between the two cheerleaders, gently taking Brittany's hand, and wrapping an arm around Santana's shoulder.

"Hey, just calm down. Everything'll turn out alright; we'll find a way through this, okay? I- I'll talk to Rachel. I'll talk to her, just… relax a little." She pulled Santana closer and Quinn's eyes widened in surprise when the brunette didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around her slender waist, and openly sob.

Quinn did her best at comforting the two distraught girls, she hushed them quietly, and hoped to God Kurt would keep Rachel upstairs for just a little longer.

* * *

><p>"Rach, we should totally do this more often." Kurt flashed a dazzling smile, before carefully finishing off the last of her eye liner. "Once you get out of those hideous sweaters- no offense- you look absolutely stunning."<p>

"Thank you Kurt." Rachel returned with a half-smile, before fidgeting uncomfortably in her chair. "I- I really appreciate this."

Kurt grinned, and kneeled in front of the shorter girl. "Anytime, sweetie. Now how about we get started on your hair, huh?"

Rachel nodded, and looked in the mirror as Kurt slowly began working on her hair.

They kept up with casual small talk, and Rachel was actually starting to enjoy herself a bit.

That was, until Kurt had choked on his own words midsentence.

"Kurt? What's wrong?" Rachel questioned apprehensively.

"Rachel…" he drew out slowly, "What are those, on your arm?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN2: **Again, I am SO sorry for such a long wait, I swear I meant to update earlier, but time just got away from me. Anyways, so I have a deal to make with you guys. If I can get 30+ reviews this chapter, I will update again within the week. Deal? If I don't I'm still gonna update, but I won't be as willing to xD anyways, REVIEW! And have a terrific day that I hopefully haven't just ruin because of a rape scene :)

**QUESTION/S:  
><strong>1. What should I do about Rachel's dads?  
>2. Song suggestions?<br>3. I'm considering a prompt idea for a one shot centered around the cinnamon challenge… yay or nay? And if yay, which pairing? I kinda wanted Rachel to be the one taking the cinnamon…  
>4. Pregnancy?<br>5. So I have an interesting idea, would you prefer Quintana and BrittBerry as separate couples, Berritana, or FaBerrittana? Considering all opinions…


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